Thailand Election By Early July: Abhisit

[george]

Thailand election by early July: PM

BANGKOK, April 18, 2011 (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday said he expects elections to be held in the politically-divided country by early July.

Abhisit, the British-born, Oxford-educated head of the establishment Democrat Party, has previously said he would dissolve the lower house of parliament by early May for what is expected to be a hard-fought election.

The move would pave the way for a vote in late June or early July as by law polls must be held between 45 and 60 days after house dissolution.

"It is clear that an election is likely to be held between the end of June and early July," Abhisit said on Monday in a speech to youths who have volunteered to work during the polls.

He said that after years of economic and political turbulence in the kingdom, an election would be an opportunity for the country to move forward.

Thai society remains bitterly divided following the country's worst civil violence in decades in April and May of last year, when there was a series of street clashes between anti-government protesters and armed troops in Bangkok.

The mass protests by the "Red Shirt" opposition movement, which sees Abhisit's government as an unelected elite, left more than 90 people dead, mostly civilians.

The red-clad movement, which is broadly loyal to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has held a series of peaceful one-day rallies in the capital in recent weeks.

Thailand's election commission said on Monday that the door was open to poll monitors from overseas, in contrast to remarks from Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who said last month foreign observers were not welcome.

"We are open for any country to observe our working process as we're confident in our transparency and there is no problem with what we do," Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Suthipol Taweechaikarn told AFP.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-04-18

[Eclipse]

That's good news for my Wife.

She will get some extra pocket money.

Hope there are a lot of candidates in our area

[SomTumTiger]

This topic is repeated down the page already.

[webfact]

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