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Thai military junta to allow preparations for 2018 election

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Thai military junta to allow preparations for 2018 election

Thailand's prime minister has said the military junta he leads will be given sweeping powers in order to lift a ban on political activity, paving the way for a general election scheduled for November 2018, media reported.

Political parties have urged the National Council for Peace and Order, which has ruled the country since the 2014 coup d'état, to lift the ban in preparation for the general election set for November 2018.

"The government will have to use Article 44 to solve this problem," Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters, referring to a constitutional clause that grants absolute powers to the military. He did not say when the order will be implemented.

Government spokesperson Sansern Kaewkamnerd said parties would be allowed to take some steps outlined in Thailand’s new constitution, including reviewing their membership list and ensuring they have at least 500 members to qualify them to run in the November 2018 poll, Reuters reported.

"The meeting is not considering lifting the ban on political activities at the moment," Sansern said.

Opposition movement United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship welcomed the announcement. "It's definitely a good thing," spokesman Thanawut Wichaidi told the newswire.

Meanwhile, NCPO Deputy Chief Tanasak Patimaprakorn said that the prime minister is also preparing a statement about possible amendments to the political party law, The Nation newspaper said.

The junta's pledge of holding a general election next year was welcomed by investors and the international community. European Union foreign ministers said on Dec. 11 that it was "appropriate to pursue a gradual political re-engagement with Thailand" given the positive political developments this year. But the bloc once again urged the country's leaders to commit to the restoration of full democracy.

Thailand's junta came to power when it toppled the civilian government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014.