18 January 2016, 09:08 GMT
BANGKOK (Sputnik) – "No matter whether the draft Constitution passes the referendum or not, the government will hold the election in 2017 according to our roadmap," Prayut told reporters at Government House, as broadcast by the state-run NBT television channel.
A political crisis erupted in Thailand in 2013, with mass protests breaking out against the government of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Martial law was introduced in the country following a May 22, 2014 military coup.
The roadmap for the country’s national consensus and democratic governance was created shortly after the coup, but the scheduled elections were postponed until 2017 after the first draft of the proposed new constitution failed to pass a vote in the interim parliament.
The second draft of the constitution has also provoked protests by lawmakers, particularly against the proposed broad powers it affords to the constitutional court, which would have more authority than the elected parliament.
