BANGKOK: Thailand’s Constitutional Court yesterday deferred a ruling on whether a general election scheduled for February 2 can be postponed, as protesters who say they will boycott the vote kept up pressure on the government to step down.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declared a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas from Wednesday, hoping to prevent an escalation in the protests now in their third month.
The Election Commission says the country is too volatile to hold a general election now and that technicalities mean it is anyway bound to result in a parliament with too few lawmakers to form a quorum.
The government says the decree to hold the election on that date has been signed by the king and cannot be changed.
“The Constitutional Court has accepted this case and we will look at the legal issues involved. If there is enough evidence, we may hand down a decision tomorrow,” said court spokesman Pimol Thampithakpong.
The protests are the latest eruption in a political conflict that has gripped the country for eight years. The emergency decree failed to clear the demonstrators, though the capital has been relatively calm this week. Reuters
