Council of State:Thailand's new general election must be held on Feb 2

BANGKOK, December 13 (TNA) - As Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary-general of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), met journalists in Bangkok on Friday to explain his group's stance and its national reform ideas, the Council of State insisted that Thailand's new general election must be held on February 2, 2014 as stated in a recent Royal Decree issued by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Suthep, who is a former deputy prime minister of the Democrat Party, repeated his demand that Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra resign to create a vacuum in the national administration, paving the way for people to appoint a neutral prime minister and a people's council, comprising 300 elected members and 100 members selected by the PDRC. The PDRC secretary-general said that he would gather national reform opinions at a forum at Thammasat University in the capital on December 14, and that the new general election, set on February 2, 2014 in a Royal Decree, needs to be postponed because his group's reform plan would take 8-14 months to be completed. Meanwhile, Chukiert Ratanachaichan, Secretary-General of the Council of State, told journalists that the Royal Decree for a House dissolution and for Thailand's new general election set on February 2, 2014, issued on December 9, 2013, was the authority of His Majesty the King, in compliance with Section 108 of the Constitution, requiring a new polling to be organized within the timeframe of 45-60 days after a House dissolution. According to the Council of State chief, it is impossible to amend the Royal Decree to postpone the general election date, as it, otherwise, violates the Constitution, the highest law of Thailand. The Council of State secretary-general suggested that concerned parties enter into negotiations either before or after the February 2 general election to solve domestic political problems.(TNA)