“If you want an election, you should stay in order peacefully. I cannot call an election if conflicts remain, and I cannot take responsibility for such disputes,” he said.

“By saying that, it does not mean I would delay the election, but I just want to warn people not to make trouble for the country,” he said. “People also should not support people who create difficulties.”

Prayut did not make clear which factions were creating problems but, as he has in the past, he blamed the two major parties, the Democrat Party and Pheu Thai, for calling street protests against each other over the past decade. Prayut has always portrayed the junta as a neutral party that staged the military coup in 2014 to end conflicts between the two rival political camps.

“Do you remember what the two parties did in the past? I don’t understand why they are turning the attack on me now,” Prayut said.

Political parties have strongly criticised the junta chief for using his absolute power under Article 44 to amend the Political Party Act. They say this will create problems for them in verifying their membership lists, and could give the upper hand to a new party set up to support Prayut.

Pheu Thai has lodged a petition with the Constitution Court to reject Prayut’s order and the Democrats plan to do the same.

“I did not intend to dissolve members of the parties,” Prayut said. “And the 30-day deadline for the verification process is long enough, as they only need a minimum of 500 members.”

Prayut rejected reports that he was preparing to set up a military-backed party to run in the election. These rumours re-emerged most recently after a picture of him with members of a political clan in Nakhon Pathom was circulated last week.

“Please be fair with me. Anybody can set up a political party and if people see that it proposes good candidates, they will choose that party,” he said. “Why are you paranoid about me?

Prayut said his New Year resolution was to see a reduction in poverty and moves towards a conflict-free democracy. “I want transparent and efficient politicians to implement the national strategy for poverty reduction and people’s happiness,” he said. He added that his government had a lot to do in 2018 for sustainable development but did not want to merely give money to the poor since that would not solve the problem.

“I want the new government to do as my government is doing. We need a clear objective and direction for specific groups that have different demands,” he said.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday urged Prayut’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to “make the best of their final year in power”.

“Thai society has given so much opportunity to the NCPO despite severe economic problems,” Abhisit said, adding that people wanted to see reforms promised by Prayut. He said reform would only be possible with public participation in government.

He intends to set up a party to support Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s post-election premiership while at the same time criticising so-called “military parties” in the political arena.

Apart from having “good morals” and being “honest and capable”, Prayut had also confirmed there would be an election soon, the former senator said. “His promise on the November election is meant to commit not only himself but also other [powerful] figures that may want to stay longer in power,” he said.

However, it is Prayut alone that Paiboon esteems. “People around him may be questioned by the public but we trust in him and only him,” he said. “There is no proof that he has anything to do with alleged corruption.”

The 64-year-old, who was formerly an appointee of the junta, last year announced the establishment of the People’s Reform Network, which is expected to become a political party.

The network is premised on the statement that empowering people’s voices and reforming parties and politicians could be successful if Prayut continues in his post.

After many of Thailand’s 13 coups, post-coup parties with connections to military figures were not unusual to ensure their sponsors’ post-election political power.

Paiboon, however, claimed that his anticipated party would be something different. “Whether they are nominee parties or military parties, they were all political failures,” he said. “My party will, instead, belong to people. Those who want to favour Prayut as the next PM are welcome to use our party as a tool.”

Meanwhile, regarding the election – and aware that the November date was not Prayut’s first promise on the subject – Paiboon said it had not been Prayut’s intention that the “road map to democracy” would be frequently altered.

Instead, he blamed “some people in the five rivers of power” who wanted to delay the election.

The so-called “five rivers of power” refers to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the Cabinet, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the Constitution Drafting Commission. The last “river” was comprised of two reform-related parliamentary mechanisms, both of which are now defunct.

All members of the said bodies were handpicked by the ruling NCPO.

Paiboon was an appointee of the erstwhile National Reform Council, one of the “reform” organs that was dissolved following its vote disapproving of the first junta-written charter draft in 2015.

“I was in the circle of appointees. I know the colour of those people,” he said.

Paiboon’s political career also predates that appointment, having served as a senator twice from 2008 to 2011 and 2012 to 2014.

He is known for the formation of the “40 senator group” that often scrutinised the governments of the defunct People’s Power Party and Pheu Thai Party, which are seen as incarnations of Thaksin Shinawatra’s late Thai Rak Thai Party.

His anticipated role as a party leader would be the first time that he moves from the Upper House to the Lower House with the stated goal to practice the “merit system” that should “liberate” parties from financiers’ domination.

“Parties should be where people with the public good in their minds gather, not those purely seeking their own interests,” he said

That system, he said, had been practised in politics for years but based on appointments. “That’s where I disagree. Politicians of good morals should be selected by the public, not certain people,” he added.

Early last month, Paiboon submitted letters to the NLA to amend the enforcing Political Party Act to “create a fair playing ground for all parties” by requiring members of existing parties to pay membership fees and suspend the primary voting system in the upcoming election.

He also submitted a letter to Prayut, as NCPO head, asking him to maintain “keeping order”, including the ban against political gatherings of five or more people, which effectively prohibits almost all party actions.

“Some old, extreme scenes might happen again if parties are fully set free. That’s where the NCPO and many people agree,” he said, without offering further details. “If too much conflict happens, who knows, the election might be postponed again.”

Prayut’s recent use of his Article 44 powers to issue NCPO order no 53/2017, which significantly amended the Political Party Act, satisfied all of his requests, Paiboon said.

While the order has been slammed as weakening existing parties and benefiting emerging parties, he said he believed the order “made us [new parties] have less of a disadvantage” as his prospective party prepares for the coming election.

First, the amendment would enable a new party to hold meetings as soon as March 1, allowing it to obtain juristic person status, he said. Second, it would set clear timelines for all parties, and third it would require party members to reaffirm their membership within each party, he added.

He also claimed the third requirement was different from resetting parties’ membership roles as has been widely claimed.

“It makes sense that party members, who should be held politically responsible, should show documents to confirm their status,” he said.

“I raise this point not because I intend to delay elections but only to make it serve as a deterrent. Those who may be planning to create havoc should think twice,” the prime minister said on Sunday.

In October, Prayut had announced that elections were likely in November 2018. However, the time frame remains uncertain because recent developments suggest that elections may not really happen within the next 11 months.

Revealing his New Year wishes, the prime minister said on Sunday that he really hoped to see politicians develop the country in line with national strategies that are being laid down.

Asked what he would not want to see in the new year, Prayut said, “I don’t want to see unrest”.

When it toppled an elected government and took power in 2014 after a long-running street demonstration, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) vowed to return happiness to the people and to return the country to a genuine democracy following its road map. The road map has since been at the heart of the regime and its promise, to the Thai people and to the world, to re-establish civilian rule. But somehow, this plan has become dynamic and has been extended on several occasions.

The road map has three major phases, according to the junta. First, a new Constitution had to be written. It had to have mechanisms to ensure good governance, and promise graft-fighting and lasting peace. The specifications resulted in two rounds of writing. The first one was shot down for opening the way to set up a so-called crisis committee that could overrule the elected government. Hence, the first phase of the road map was stretched out to allow a second round of charter writing.

The whole process of coming up with the new Constitution took three years in total before the supreme law could finally be promulgated.

After the imposition of the new charter in April, the second phase of the road map began. The Constitution set down that 10 organic laws should be written within 240 days to prepare for the last phase: the election.

By law, an election must be held 150 days after the promulgation of the four organic laws – on the Senate, MPs, political parties and the Election Commission (EC). The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), designated by the NCPO, promised to speed up its work to make sure the four laws were in effect as soon as possible so the election could be held. The chief charter writer even said that it should not take the whole 240 days. But after all, it did. The organic laws on the Senate and MPs were the last of the 10 submitted to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) late last month. The regime reasoned that they had to be in line with the EC and the political parties laws, which were held up for revisions in the NLA for two months.

In the past year, politics has centred around these pieces of legislation and their complications. The deadline of 240 days was reached in early December. And so, under the road map promised by the junta, the highly anticipated election and the return to democratic rule should be just around the corner. But the current circumstances are suggesting otherwise and uncertainty remains. Although the organic laws governing political parties and the EC law are already in effect, the junta has kept stalling and it will not allow political parties to make arrangements following the new regulations. Political activities could destroy the peace, so the junta says.

As pressure has been growing amid the enduring political ban, the junta decided to exercise its absolute power under Article 44 to issue an order to reschedule everything. The political party law lays out that parties should have completed all their arrangements and be ready to campaign for an election by the middle of next year. But, under the new timetable set by the NCPO, that will be when the parties can kickstart their activities. In addition, it now seems that the last two bills – on the Senate and the MPs – and might be stalled, making it more difficult to keep the previous schedule.

The last phase of the road map – the election promised for November – hence seems to be under a cloud.

NLA vice president Surachai Liangboonlertchai said that, in the past year, 334 laws had entered the Assembly. It had passed 271 of them and 263 had already been promulgated, he added.

Four organic laws on political parties, criminal procedures against political office-holders, the Election Commission and the Nation Human Rights Commission were among those in effect, he said.

The NLA had also passed organic bills on the Ombudsman, the Office of the Auditor-General and the procedures in the Constitutional Court that were currently pending royal endorsement, Surachai added.

The organic bill on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) was passed in the chamber on Monday. Surachai said that it would be submitted to the NACC and the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) to review the law before forwarding it to the prime minister, who would seek royal endorsement.

If the NACC or the CDC found the bill disagreeable, however, a joint committee would be set up to revise the bill, he said.

The last two organic bills were those on MPs and the Senate. Having passed their first readings last month, they would enter the chamber again for second and third readings in the third week of January before the deadline set for the 26th day, he said.

Once they were promulgated, Surachai said that the clock would start ticking for the election.

The NLA vice president also said in the coming year laws concerning national reform would be proposed to the Assembly. They followed – and were connected to – the reform plan and the national strategy as stipulated by the new Constitution, he said.

The national strategy, which will shape public policy for the next 20 years, Surachai said, was expected to enter the NLA, too, so it could be implemented as stated by the charter. It was an important issue to occur before the election, the NLA vice president said. Controversies hitting the NLA in the past year included the decision to replace commissioners and reset some independent agencies. Critics said that choosing to spare some commissioners while dismissing others reflected a double standard.

Surachai said that officials involved in the legislation reasoned that the decision to dismiss or not dismiss those commissioners depended largely on their missions. Apart from that, the Constitution had been interpreted as allowing the NLA to have the final say regarding the laws, he said.

Asked whether the practice would hurt the credibility of the independent agencies, Surachai said the public would question them, but their performance would be the determining factor.

Facebook page @secret100million posted a photo showing a woman who looks like Yingluck and a boy, who resembles her 15-year-old son Supasek Amornchat, in a shopping mall.

The page also posted a picture of the woman wearing the same dress standing alone in the same place. This photo was the same as one released on Friday by New18 TV, which claimed it was taken in London.

The page administrator of @secret100million wrote that the photos had been received from a well-intentioned person and said it was good for Yingluck to be living in the United Kingdom.

After New18 released the first picture, National Council for Peace and Order spokesman staff Maj-General Piyapong Klingpan |called on concerned agencies to do their jobs and investigate the matter.

Yingluck fled the country a few days before the Supreme Court was set to rule in August in a case against her of dereliction of duty over her government’s rice-pledging scheme. She has not been seen in public since.

On September 27, the court sentenced her in absentia to five years in jail without suspension for malfeasance of duty.

The Foreign Ministry has revoked her four passports, while Thai agencies have failed to locate her even though they have asked the international police agency, Interpol, to help. She reportedly fled to London after stopping in Dubai.

The photo was released by New18 TV yesterday, resulting in the National Council for Peace and Order’s (NCPO) spokesman staff Maj-General Piyapong Klingpan calling on concerned agencies to do their job and investigate the matter. Busadee Santipitaks, director-general of the Department of Information and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile said the ministry has learned about the matter from the media, and has so far not obtained any further information in regard to the report.

Yingluck fled the country a few days before the Supreme Court was set to rule in August in a case against her of dereliction of duty over her government’s rice pledging scheme. She has not been seen in public since.

The Court on September 27 sentenced her to five years without suspension for malfeasance of duty.

Her four passports have been revoked, while concerned agencies have been trying to identify her location and have her arrested.

She reportedly fled to London after stopping in Dubai.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt-General Kongcheep Tantrawanich said on Saturday that the meeting would be held on January 8 and discussions were expected to focus on the implementation of a “social contract”.

The committee this year gathered opinions about conflict resolution from civil society and political parties, and drafted a social contract to which all conflicting parties must abide, regardless of whether such a contract was legally biding.

Kongcheep said the contract aimed to create recognition, understanding and consciousness among members of the public at every level nationwide, starting from villages, by using the mechanisms of the Internal Security Operations Command and Interior Ministry.

In the meantime, all government agencies would adjust their plans to be in line with the contract. This would especially apply to solutions for tackling inequality in society, he said.

If the process for enhancing reconciliation goes well, he believes the road map to the election will go ahead as planned.

“The election will certainly be held following the road map. If society is peaceful and people have a common understanding and make compromises, I believe we can move forward with the election,” he added.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has said that the election will be held in November next year.