His Majesty the King issued his command on August 12 endorsing the appointment of the new EC president and four other commissioners, it was announced in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday.

In July, the five were endorsed by the National Legislative Assembly.

They were among seven candidates nominated to become new members of the EC, which will take charge of holding the next general election, expected early next year.

With the royal endorsement, the five newly appointed commissioners can now start performing their duty officially.

The five new EC members are Ittiporn Boonprakong, Suntud Sirianuntapiboon, Tawatchai Lertpaothai, Chatchai Chanpraisri and Pakorn Mahannop.

Ittiporn was selected to become the new EC president. He is a former director of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Suntud, an environmental technology professor, is the only academic, while the rest are former government officials.

Tawatchai was a former governor of Saraburi province. Chatchai and Pakorn are Supreme Court judges nominated by the court assembly for the EC posts.

Selection is underway to fill the last two EC seats. Under the 2017 Constitution, there are seven election commissioners, compared to five under the previous charter.

Meanwhile, the president of the current EC, Supachai Somcharoen, said on Wednesday that the outgoing election commissioners have no conflict of interest regarding the selection of election inspectors.

He said they are not allowed by law to become election commissioners again after completing their term. He added that they had no plans to enter politics.

Supachai said they performed their duty when they started the selection of election inspectors a few months before their successors were expected to take over.

The junta leader said he would decide which political party he would join only after deciding whether to remain in politics.

“I told you I still don’t know if I should stay [in politics] or not. I have to see why I should stay,” Prayut said. “More importantly, if people do not vote for the party I join, how can I come [back to politics]?”

When pressed for an answer about his political future, the head of the ruling junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said: “You don’t have to ask me today. I will say it myself in September.” He also said that political restrictions would be eased by that time.

When a reporter joked that she would ask him about his decision on the first day of September, he replied: “Whatever day in September. Let’s focus on tackling the country’s problems now.”

During his trip to the United Kingdom in June, Prayut said that he would disclose his decision about his political future in September.

Amid political issues, the NCPO plans to “do political unlocking” by authorising the Election Commission (EC) to start preparing for the next election and keep up with a poll timeline that has been repeatedly delayed.

Prayut said that while the NCPO meeting yesterday did not touch on the election, more clarity should be seen once the MPs election bill and the Senate selection bill are published in the Royal Gazette.

“You will see more political clarity in September. There’s no need to ask me about it now,” he said.

Prayut said the legal process “should head to election” once the MP election bill draft, one of four organic laws that must be passed before holding an election, is published. The election bill, even if published, still needs to wait for another 90 days to come into effect as stipulated by the junta-appointed legislators.

EC president Supachai Somcharoen said earlier that the agency should be able to organise election-related matters during those 90 days to keep up with the election which, according to the charter, must be held within 150 days once all four essential organic laws are in effect.

Concerns about legislative hurdles ahead of the election have also increased as some National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members also planned to propose changes on the already enacted EC law.

The NLA source said on Monday that the proposal might be scrapped following concerns that the amendments would result in the elections being delayed but also less transparency.

Prayut said yesterday that while the amendment proposal is not yet finalised, the new EC board should also be allowed to consider the local election inspectors. The premier’s remarks may imply that more work needs to be done on consideration of the election inspectors, despite being already planned by the current acting EC.

Meanwhile, the junta leader was upset yesterday over a joke video clip that dubs his first single “Return Happiness to Thailand” as a song full of lies.

In the video clip, posted in June by a Facebook user, a boy asks his father: “Which song tells lies in every verse?”

After his father made a few unlucky guesses, the boy started singing the famous “Return Happiness to Thailand” written by Prayut more than four years ago after the 2014 coup. The lyric says: “We will keep our promise. Just give us a little bit more time.”

Government spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday that Prayut had expressed concern that some individuals with ill intentions had made such a video to attack the government by accusing it of failing to keep its promises.

“General Prayut assures he is not delaying the election. Everything follows the road map. We all know that soon the organic laws will be promulgated,” Sansern said.

The spokesman went on to say that the PM flagged the video clip for dragging a little kid into politics and making him a political tool.

“General Prayut said that this is not nice at all,” he said. “They are just kids. They deserve to be raised right and taught things good for them.

“We’ve seen this before during the protests that involved the use of war weapons,“ Sansern added. “They brought kids around the bunkers. General Prayut doesn’t want to see that atmosphere anymore. Kids should be safe.”

Sansern also mentioned other clips that showed pedestrians being interviewed about the economic situation. He said Prayut advised people to see the official figures from credible sources that showed improvements. “And General Prayut also wanted everyone to also improve themselves in order to improve the overall quality of life,” Sansern said. “He stressed that this government is trying to provide the equipment for people to fish rather than giving them the fish.”

Romsit will be placed as special inspector at the PM’s Office, the special position set up for officers that are being investigated.

The order, published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday, reasoned that a shift “is urgently needed to appropriately and efficiently adjust human resources management in some governmental agencies to solve administration problems and prevent damages from happening”.

Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of overseeing AMLO, declined to give details on the reasoning behind the decision, as he said he had not attended the meeting of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) at which it had been discussed.

The next secretary-general of AMLO, an independent governmental organisation, may not similarly be appointed by the junta’s absolute power under Article 44 of the previous interim charter, Wissanu suggested.

“If the new name is not mentioned in this order, it would mean that the new head should be sought following the usual process,” he said.

The order was issued hours after the Prayut-headed NCPO held a meeting.

The premier said briefly about the NCPO meeting that it had been about “ensuring that all officers are transparent and efficient ahead of the election”.

Romsit was approved by the Cabinet to head AMLO in February, and officially took charge in June.

The transfers take effect on October 1.

Nakhon Sawan Governor Thanakom Jongjira and Pornpoj Penpas, governor of Sa Kaew, will become deputy permanent secretaries.

Nisit Chansomwong and Prayoon Ratanasenee, both current deputy permanent secretaries, will be directors general of the Community Development Department and Land Department, respectively.

Inspectors general Rapee Phongbuppakit and Sayam Sirimongkol will be the governors of Chachoengsao and Nakhon Phanom, respectively.

Inspectors general Kiartisak Chantha, Wichit Chadpahisit and Somkid Chanthamaruek will serve as the governors of Maha Sarakham, Sa Kaew and Samut Sakhon, respectively.

Governors moving to other provinces are Atthaporn Singhawichai of Surin going to Nakhon Sawan, Siripat Pattanakul of Trang to Phang Nga, Pipat Ekphaphan of Sukhothai to Phitsanulok, Phakkapong Thaweepat of Phitsanulok to Phuket, Weerasak Wichitsaensee of Phichit to Si Sa Ket, Weeranan Pengchan of Pattani to Songkhla, Manrat Ratanasukhon of Uthai Thani to Saraburi, Prapas Malakan of Samut Sakhon to Surin, and Thanakorn Ungjitpaisarn of Nong Bua Lamphu to Uttaradit.

The NLA wanted to revoke the selection of election inspectors.

The source said the NLA members had dropped the amendment idea because they did not want to make the EC law – one of the organic laws essential to holding an election – too easy to amend.

If the amendment by the NLA does go ahead, it could also create a false standard for the future parliament, the source said.

“Since the law is that of an independent organisation under the Constitution, any legal changes should originate from them, not the Parliament,” they said.

The NLA’s move came after weeks of political criticism that their proposal to amend the already enacted bill would only waste time and further delay the election.

Chart Thai Pattana Party director Nikorn Chamnong yesterday also raised this concern.

“The amendment will have a direct impact on the current ruling power, which is the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO],” Nikorn said. “In my opinion, it will not be worth it.”

Political observers believe the junta-appointed legislators’ move to change the law might have been signalled from the powers-that-be. They may have wished for a specific election-inspecting system, which would have the power to oversee the election process at local levels.

Nikorn also backed the EC’s decision to propose that the NCPO enact Article 44, so the EC can set up constituencies despite the junta’s ban on political party movement.

Local constituencies are necessary in order to appoint local election inspectors, who will be assigned to oversee each constituency, he said.

A group of 36 National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members are seeking an amendment to the legislation, particularly regarding election inspectors, leading to a heated debate.

The legislators’ move came after the outgoing EC members started the selection of election inspectors for all 77 provinces. The NLA members called the current EC move “inappropriate” and said the process should wait until a new set of election commissioners takes over.

Five of the seven nominated EC members were approved by the NLA recently, but they need royal endorsement before they can start performing their duty.

Democrat Party deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon yesterday said he did not buy the NLA members’ reasoning. He said the new EC should be continuing the work of the previous EC, which currently is in an acting capacity, and not be undoing all their work.

The proposed amendment on the regulation even cut out participation by the people’s sector in order to select inspectors, Ongart said.

“Although the NLA claims it wants to amend the law with the aim of enabling a free and fair election, their rationale is quite illogical,” the deputy said. “I doubt they have been ordered to do so by some of the powers-that-be.”

If that were true, he added that it could be very dangerous to the country during the pre-election period. “The powers-that-be are also likely to take part in the coming election. If they misuse their power for their own games in the election, this will erode the legitimacy of the election.”

Meanwhile, EC president Supachai Somcharoen that the agency would merely follow any law enacted by the NLA. “As long as there isn’t any change, we will follow the timeline that we have already mapped out,” Supachai said.

Regarding the election timeline, he said the current EC would propose to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to use its absolute power under Article 44 order to authorise the EC to demarcate constituencies so that political parties can conduct primary voting.

The primary voting system is obligated under the junta-written Constitution to obtain MP candidates to contest in the election.

As the process of primary voting will require sufficient numbers of party members in each constituency in order to cast their votes, it would likely consume some time. Supachai proposed that parties should be able to learn their constituencies after the MP election bill is published in the Royal Gazette.

This still does not add up as the MP election bill will only come into effect only 90 days after it is published.

Supachai raised the issue that constituencies should be lined up during those 90 days in order to be ready for the general election, which must be organised within five months of all four organic laws related to the election coming into effect, according to the charter.

The Article 44 power is also required for the ruling NCPO since the junta has banned all forms of political party activities, unless specially permitted by the NCPO, citing “order and security reasons” during its four years in power.

“Asean consists of member states with diverse backgrounds and regimes,” said Panitan Wattanayagorn, security adviser to Deputy PM and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan and also a university lecturer in international relations.

“We also adhere to a principle of not interfering in other members’ domestic affairs. We listen to international concerns and offer explanations. Still, the political regimes in Asean countries should not be a problem under the Asean charter,” he said.

Panitan also said an opinion column published in the Jakarta Post earlier this month, questioning non-democratic Thailand’s suitability to chair Asean was in line with “information from a certain group”. He did not elaborate.

A source at the Foreign Ministry said the ministry planned to write a letter to the Jakarta Post’s editor about the critical commentary.

Thailand is set to assume the chair at about the same time as its first general election since the 2014 Prayut-led coup overthrew an elected government.

The largest number of respondents – 29.1 per cent – said they preferred civil servants as MP candidates, though some 7.5 per cent said they wanted more members of the armed forces running in the elections, a Suan Dusit poll shows.

Businesspeople came in second (25.4 per cent), followed by lawyers (22 per cent) and academics (16 per cent).

Suan Dusit University collected the opinions of 1,034 people across the country from last Wednesday until Saturday.

When asked which subject the election candidates should have majored in, 41.2 per cent of the respondents said Economics, followed by Political Science (22 per cent), Business Administration (14.7 per cent), Law (14.5 per cent) and Public Administration (7.5 per cent).

As for what characteristic was the most important factor for voting in their representative, 27.9 per cent said honesty.

Knowledge and capability came in second, with 25.2 per cent support, followed by personal history (16.2 per cent), educational background (15.9 per cent) and political experience (14.9 per cent).

Premsak on Saturday joined with Somsak Thepsutin, a leader of the Sam Mitr (Three Friends) group to meet some 200 representatives from Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district and nearby districts at the Ban Phai municipal meeting hall.

Sam Mitr is so-named for its three leaders – Somsak, Suriya Juangroongruangkit and Deputy Prime Minster Somkid Jatusripitak.

Political observers have dubbed the group a powerful political vacuum cleaner with sucking power sufficient to recruit former MPs from various parties to join the right-wing Palang Pracharat Party.

Observers say the party is being created to support junta Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha as he vies for another term after the next election. Prayut has so far played coy about his post-election ambitions.

At the Ban Phai gathering, Premsak and Somsak listened to problems of local people and promised to take care of their issues, said Pirom Polwiset, secretary of Sam Mitr.

After meeting the people in Ban Phai, the group moved on to visit people in Mahasarakham’s Kosum Pisai district in the afternoon. The group was received by Kosol Kadphanno, vice president of the Mahasarakham Provincial Administrative Organisation.

Earlier on Saturday, Somsak and Pirom met with some 1,000 people from Bua Yai and nearby districts in Nakhon Ratchasima to hear their problems and proposals.

The representatives of residents of Bua Yai and seven surrounding districts called on the Prayut government to upgrade the eight districts into a new province called Bua Yai. They said Nakon Ratchasima province is too bloated with 32 districts, leaving the provincial administration ineffective in taking care of the people.

Seree Nampibul, chief of Tambon None Phet in Pathai district, said tambon chiefs and village heads had also called on Prayut to give them a pay increase.

Somsak is said to have promised them that he would raise the proposal for creating Bua Yai province with the Interior Ministry and with Prayut.

Pirom said the group would comply with the people’s wishes and proposal, and would report to the prime minister to seek measures to tackle the issues

The eldest and considered one of most senior figures in the ruling junta, Prawit greeted well wishes from over 40 military personnel and police officers at his Five Provinces Bordering Forest Preservation Foundation.

Despite the annual routine, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was not at Friday’s celebration.

“Thank you for all the wishes. I hope you won’t mind some words I have said. I didn’t mean that but sometimes my words are interpreted,” said Prawit, who is well known for his “uncaring words” when interacting with reporters.

“But sometimes I get tired with social media, where my words are distorted,” he said.

“I never want to damage the country and wish the country would move forward fast,” he added. “Everything is in order as the National Council for Peace and Order is entering its fifth year. Police, military and administrative officers have helped each other.”

While the two-time minister is known to have broad connections with top political figures and has greatly helped sustain the NCPO in the political arena, he is also one of the junta’s most controversial figures for not only his rough words with the press but also allegations of corruption.

The investigations into Prawit’s pricey three-day official trip to Hawaii that cost Bt20.9 million in 2016 and his luxury watches, estimated to be worth over Bt30 million, have gone nowhere.

Last month, Chinese social media users also raged as Prawit said during his interview that the tragic boat sinking in Phuket, taking away lives of over 40 Chinese tourists, was a result of an illegal Chinese tour operator and that “the Chinese just harmed themselves”.

Prawit later apologised for his remarks.

Due to his age, Prawit receives regular medical treatment. Last year, he went absent from work for a whole week before reappearing having lost weight. He allegedly had heart surgery during the period.

He was also brought back to Bangkok during the mobile Cabinet meeting in Ubon Ratchathani due to diarrhoea, according to a government spokesperson.