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New Thai King requests constitutional changes to 'ensure his royal powers': Prime Minister
ABC News - January 11, 2017
The constitution was drafted by Thailand's military junta to give it significant control over politics for many years. It was approved by a nationwide referendum in August and was waiting on royal sign-off.
"The request said there are three to four issues that need fixing to ensure his royal powers," General Prayut told reporters in Bangkok. "This issue has nothing to do with the rights and freedoms of the people," he said without giving further details.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended the throne last month after the death of his widely-revered father King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
There is intense speculation as to what sort of a monarch 64-year-old King Vajiralongkorn will be. He attended high school and military college in Australia, and has spent much of his adult life abroad.
What powers will be changed?
There was no official explanation as to which parts of the draft constitution the King wants amended.
However a Thai academic living in self-imposed exile in Paris speculated on social media the changes might relate to sections that limit the King's power.
"Some friends have told me that apart from Section 5, the new King also requested to change section 17 and 182," said Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a vocal critic of Thailand's lese majeste law.
Section 5 is a new provision that gives power to senior court, military and political figures in a time of crisis. Section 17 relates to how a regent is appointed, while section 182 requires all royal commands to be counter-signed by a government minister.
The King is protected by the world's harshest lese majeste laws, with jail terms of up to 15 years for each count of royal defamation. In the past, some of the most contentious and accurate analysis has come from abroad.
Elections delay likely
General Prayut hinted that elections scheduled for 2015, then 2016 and then this year would be postponed again.
"At the end of this year I will allow politics to start," he told media. "It will come after the royal cremation and the new King's coronation... then the process of preparation and election can be started," he said.
As recently as this week, the Prime Minister assured the Thai public the junta's "roadmap" back to democracy was on course. However, the next day he reportedly told the Canadian ambassador that elections would be postponed until 2018.
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