Thai Govt Confident Feb 2 General Election Will Take Place

BANGKOK, December 10 (TNA) - A key Thai government figure strongly believes that the next general election will take place on Feb 2 as His Majesty the King has endorsed it with a royal decree and the government will not be concerned whether the opposition Democrat Party will boycott the polling or not. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said on Tuesday that the government already returned power to people through House dissolution, so he would like demonstrators to stop their protest and prepare for the Feb 2 election. Mr. Surapong confirmed that the election would take place, no matter whether the Democrat Party would run in it or not. He said he believes that 55 days should be long enough for all political parties to prepare themselves for the polling. “If you are confident of massive support from people, you should participate in the election and compete with policies. Without an election and compliance to laws, there will be neither recognition in global arenas nor credibility in any agreement signing. Even former communist countries turn to elections,” Mr Surapong said in response to Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the protesting People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), who announced to prolong his anti-government protest for three days. Mr Surapong dismissed Mr Suthep’s reference to Section 3 of the constitution to demand the cabinet and government officials to follow the orders of the PDRC. Regarding Mr Suthep’s demand for the prime minister to resign and not to play a caretaker role, Mr Surapong said Section 181 of the constitution required the government to remain to perform its caretaker duties; otherwise, it would be accused of dereliction of duty. Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut, secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), said he was worried about the prolonged protest of the PDRC but he believed most demonstrators started to understand laws and would like to participate in the next election. Regarding Mr Suthep’s demand for government officials to report to the PDRC, Lt Gen Paradorn said that might be the desire of Mr Suthep only and no government officials had reported to the PDRC. The NSC secretary-general also said that soldiers continued to assist in securing important places while the police took the lead in security operations and that security organizations were enforcing laws as usual. Anti-government protesters, meanwhile, moved to the Army Club where the cabinet held its special meeting this morning and their leaders took turns to criticize the government there. (TNA)