The Election Commission will ask Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to use his special power under Section 44 of the interim charter to give political parties enough time to hold primary votes.
EC secretary-general Pol Colonel Jarungwit Phumma said on Monday the EC was awaiting a Constitutional Court ruling due on Tuesday on the junta's No.53/60 order on activities of political parties.
The ruling will determine the steps leading to the polls, he said.
"If the court rules the order constitutional, we'll ask the NCPO chief to use Section 44 to empower us to set constituency boundaries immediately after the MP bill takes effect without having to wait 90 days, and to lift the ban on political parties' activities," he said.
The MP bill, which was ruled constitutional last week, will take effect 90 days after it is promulgated in the Royal Gazette.
The EC views old parties need time to prepare primary votes since their branches had been dissolved after the coup.
"The primary vote procedures will become clear after the EC defines the constituency boundaries and the EC can do so only after the MP bill takes effect."
He explained parties will have to hold branch meetings to mobilise members in each constituency to choose its MP candidates. Parties cannot proceed now because of the ban on their activities.
The remaining two organic bills needed before the general election can be held are expected to be submitted for royal consideration this month. If approved within 3 months, they will be promulgated and held for 90 days before taking effect.
After that, the 150-day countdown to the election begins and the polls can be held anytime during the period but no later than April, two months later than the February schedule earlier promised by the junta.
However, the junta said the February schedule was intact and some steps in the roadmap could be sped up.
