Thai PM casts doubt on October election
KUALA LUMPUR - Thailand's army-installed prime minister has cast doubt over whether elections will go ahead in October as promised by the military junta, Malaysian state media said Sunday.
Surayud Chulanot said Thailand's interim government was proceeding with its timetable but could not confirm an October election."I cannot say at the moment," Surayud said in an interview with the official Bernama news agency, when asked about the deadline. "It still depends a lot on the drafting committee, like when it is able to provide the first draft for a referendum, on when we can set a timeframe for the referendum. After the referendum, we will proceed with the general elections," he said. The military ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup on September 19 last year, and quickly scrapped the constitution and imposed martial law. Work has begun on drafting a new constitution, which must be approved by a referendum, while the junta has also said it will hold elections by October to restore democracy by year's end. "As a government, if we can proceed with the planned time-table, I think that's a success," Surayud said, adding he was "confident" elections would be held. A poll earlier this month by a Thai university showed public approval of the army-installed government had plunged and Surayud's popularity had fallen to 48 percent from nearly 71 percent in November. But the premier said he had a mandate from the public and would continue in his position until the return to democracy. "I received this job with a strong mandate from the people that I have to be here to serve (and to attend to) the political and security problems in Thailand," he told Bernama. Agence France-Presse
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