BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday he needed a little more time in office to prepare the country for a general election, just days after his deputy said a vote planned for this year could be delayed.
Prayuth, installed as prime minister in August 2014 after leading a coup that ousted a civilian government, has delayed the date of a general election several times. Most recently, he said an election would take place in November.
But last week Thailand’s parliamentary body voted to postpone enforcement of a new election law by 90 days, dragging out the time frame. At the time, the deputy prime minister said parliament’s decision could delay the election until 2019.
“Please give me some time to lay the foundation for the country, that’s all,” Prayuth told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “The length of this time depends on the law,” he said, referring to last week’s parliamentary decision. Prayuth did not give further details.
He is under pressure at home and abroad to return to civilian governance.
On Saturday, activists demanding an election this year gathered at a pedestrian bridge in central Bangkok in a rare show of dissent.
On Tuesday deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said the ruling junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order, had filed a complaint with police against seven leaders of Saturday’s protest.
The activists will be charged with crimes including sedition and violating a junta order that bans public gatherings of more than five people, local media reported.
Government critics say the junta is deliberately delaying the vote in order to tighten its grip on power in the Southeast Asian country by ensuring that its allies win the vote.
Some critics say Prayuth would like to stay in power after a general election. Thailand’s new constitution, which took effect last year, allows for an appointed prime minister.
Others have warned the junta needs to return Thailand to civilian rule within its promised time frame or risk fanning flames of discontent.
Prayuth addressed questions about waning public support. “This is normal. Any government in their third year all encounter this,” he said on Tuesday.
Thai PM calls for a little more time in office to prepare for vote
Thai PM calls for a little more time in office to prepare for vote
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Anger as branch of ICE to help with security at Winter Olympics
ROME: A branch of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help with security for the Winter Olympics in Italy, it confirmed Tuesday, sparking anger and warnings they were not welcome.
Reports had been circulating for days that the agency embroiled in an often brutal immigration crackdown in the United States could be involved in US security measures for the February 6-22 Games in northern Italy.
In a statement overnight to AFP, ICE said: “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations.
“All security operations remain under Italian authority.”
It’s not known whether the HSI has in the past been involved in the Olympics, or whether this is a first.
According to the ICE website, the HSI investigates global threats, investigating the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of, and through the United States.
ICE made clear its operations in Italy were separate from the immigration crackdown, which is being carried out by the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) department.
“Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries,” it said.
The protection of US citizens during Olympic Games overseas is led by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).
Yet the outrage over ICE immigration operations in the United States is shared among many in Italy, following the deaths of two civilians during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
The leftist mayor of Milan, which is hosting several Olympic events, said ICE was “not welcome.”
“This is a militia that kills... It’s clear that they are not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about it, Giuseppe Sala told RTL 102.5 radio.
“Can’t we just say no to (US President Donald) Trump for once?“
Alessandro Zan, a member of the European Parliament for the center-left Democratic Party, condemned it as “unacceptable.”
“In Italy, we don’t want those who trample on human rights and act outside of any democratic control,” he wrote on X.
Monitoring Vance
Italian authorities initially denied the presence of ICE and then sought to downplay any role, suggesting they would help only in security for the US delegation.
US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6.
On Monday, the president of the northern Lombardy region, said their involvement would be limited to monitoring Vance and Rubio.
“It will be only in a defensive role, but I am convinced that nothing will happen,” Attilio Fontana told reporters.
However, his office then issued a statement saying he did not have any specific information on their presence, but was responding to a hypothetical question.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi was quoted as saying late Monday that “ICE, as such, will never operate in Italy.”
The International Olympic Committee when contacted by AFP about the matter replied: “We kindly refer you to the USOPC (the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee).”
Thousands of ICE agents have been deployed by President Donald Trump in various US cities to carry out a crackdown on illegal immigration.
Their actions have prompted widespread protests, and the recent killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, on the streets of Minneapolis sparked outrage.
