The military regime has politely informed the public they are probably going to suffer another election delay. The latest in the three-year (and counting) series of delays comes after several reiterations by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that national elections would be held "definitely in February". On Monday, after a meeting with some political parties, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam set a new deadline -- between February and May.
The incessant delays follow a now incredible claim by the very top political leaders that they are working under a specific roadmap to elections. Yet, since the middle of 2015, each time a specified voting date is approaching, the roadmap is lengthened. This creates the distinct impression that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and government don't seem aware of their own legal progress.
Mr Wissanu and first Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon were the official hosts of a meeting on Monday at the Royal Thai Army Club. They did not publicly note the irony that this was where the political imbroglio began, on May 22, 2014. That was the day then-army commander Gen Prayut halted what were supposed to be political negotiations and seized control of the government at gunpoint.
