Political parties are set to meet with the regime to discuss poll preparations after an invitation to see the Election Commission (EC) on Sept 28, said Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam who insisted the tentative poll date of Feb 24 next year still stands.
The EC has sprung into action as the core agency in charge of election-related arrangements after the organic laws on the election of MPs and selection of senators received royal endorsement, and were published in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday.
However, the law on the election of MPs will come into effect in 90 days, or on Dec 10 while the law on senator selection goes into force immediately.
Mr Wissanu said on Thursday the EC's work schedule will be filled. In the next 90 days, the constituencies will be redrawn. Political parties will also convene a meeting to elect executives and review regulations to comply with the new constitution.
However, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) must give the green light by easing the political activities ban before the parties can hold their first meetings since the regime seized power from the Pheu Thai Party-led administration more than four years ago.
The NCPO has been rebuked by political parties for being "half-hearted" in letting them prepare for the election.
Political parties maintain that easing restrictions, as the NCPO intends to do, is not enough, and that the ban must be lifted.
Mr Wissanu said parties' election queries will be thrashed out at a meeting with the EC on Sept 28. Points raised at the meeting will be presented to the NCPO for a discussion with the political parties at a separate meeting.
It will be the second time the parties will have met the EC and the NCPO. In June, the council heard parties' complaints about proceedings which they thought had threatened to complicate or even disrupt the next election, including the costly and time-consuming primary voting which the parties were required to conduct where members nominated MP candidates. The NCPO has since changed the primary voting system to make it less tedious but no less controversial, according to political experts.
Instead of registered members in each province voting for their parties' potential MP candidates contesting in each constituency, only the member representatives will cast the votes for nationwide potential MP candidates of the respective parties.
Mr Wissanu said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also the NCPO chief, will chair the next NCPO-parties meeting, which is expected to be dominated by the parties' calls for the political ban to be revoked starting from the 90-day period.
At the end of 90 days on Dec 10, the royal decree setting the poll date will be declared, at which point the process of organising the next general election within 150 days will begin.
The deputy premier downplayed politicians' concerns they will be allowed too little time to canvass for votes if the poll occurs on Feb 24 next year. He indicated the election timetable is clearly laid out and the essential tasks such as registering new party members and conducting the primaries will proceed like clockwork, and that the parties will be left with more than enough time to hit the campaign trail.
Mr Wissanu said the Feb 24 election roadmap remains intact. "There's been no mention by anyone in power of that date being moved," the deputy prime minister said.
On Thursday, EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma said the EC will review poll regulations relevant to the selection of senators, which must be wrapped up before the general election.
Fifty of the 250 senators will be appointed by NCPO from candidates elected within professional and social groups. The 194 other senators will also be picked by the regime from those nominated by a special panel. The remaining six senator seats are occupied by the armed forces leaders, the national police chief, the supreme commander and the defence permanent secretary.
Mr Jarungvith said the organisations eligible to propose candidates in the professional and social groups will need to register with the EC.
US ambassador, Glyn T Davies, said on Thursday that with the final organic laws passed, a process begins that will lead to elections early next year.
"I think now that is set in motion, and this is very important ... next year when the elections happen, there can be an elected civilian government that will reflect the will of the Thai people," he said.
Meanwhile, Chusak Sirinil, head of the Pheu Thai Party's legal team, demanded the political activities ban be abolished now that the MPs election law is enacted.
The NCPO must, where necessary, amend or cancel orders it issued under Section 44 which obstructed poll preparations, he added.
Samart Kaewmeechai, a former Pheu Thai MP, said politicians now need clarity over when political activities can resume.
