Thai opposition urges junta to lift politics ban

♦ King endorses bills that clear the bureaucratic hurdles to a poll

♦ Sr junta figures floated February 24 poll date

The toppled Thai opposition yesterday called on the ruling junta to lift the ban on political activities as the countdown begins for the kingdom's first election since a 2014 coup.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn endorsed two bills on Wednesday that clear the bureaucratic hurdles to a poll, which has been promised and delayed for years by the junta. An election is required to take place by May.

Junta critics want to hold political gatherings, which have been banned since a coup four years ago toppled the Puea Thai government led by Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand's first female premier.

"We demand for the junta to lift the political activities ban as soon as possible," Pichai Naripthaphan, an ex-minister in Yingluck's cabinet, told AFP.

"As the country heads to an election, we need to create a good atmosphere so that people can express their opinions."

Pichai said that date is now increasingly likely, and cautioned the National Council for Peace Order (NCPO) -- the formal name for the junta -- against delaying it.

"If the NCPO postpones it again, there will be local and international pressure," he said.

Puea Thai is affiliated to the Shinawatra clan, a powerful and wealthy political family whose parties and proxies have won every Thai general election since 2001.

But coups and court rulings have toppled their governments, pushing Yingluck -- and her older brother Thaksin, the family patron -- into self-exile to avoid jail terms in Thailand.

US Ambassador to Thailand Glyn Davies said in a statement yesterday that the endorsement of the two bills to move towards an election next year was a "positive step".