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| Thailand sets date for election | Thailand sets date for election |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Thailand has set a date for the first general election following last year's coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power. | Thailand has set a date for the first general election following last year's coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power. |
| The electoral commission said the election would be held on 23 December. | The electoral commission said the election would be held on 23 December. |
| Thailand's military-installed government had promised elections by the end of the year after it won approval for a new constitution. | Thailand's military-installed government had promised elections by the end of the year after it won approval for a new constitution. |
| Nearly 58% voted for the changes in a referendum earlier this month, though many pro-Thaksin areas rejected them. | Nearly 58% voted for the changes in a referendum earlier this month, though many pro-Thaksin areas rejected them. |
| "We consider December 23, 2007, is the appropriate date," election commission chief Apichart Sukhagganond said, according to the AFP news agency. | |
| "This will give political parties enough time to run their campaigns," he told reporters, after a meeting with interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. | |
| Controversial charter | |
| The announcement comes just over a week after a new constitution was approved in the country's first-ever referendum. | |
| The government said the changes were important to prevent future prime ministers from becoming too powerful and able to abuse their power - charges they have levelled at Mr Thaksin. | |
| But critics have called the new charter less democratic, pointing out that it proposes the Senate should be only partly elected. | |
| Although just over half of eligible voters, 57.6% turned out for the poll - with a similar number approving it - the government pronounced itself pleased with the result. | |
| While parts of southern Thailand saw 88% of voters approve the new constitution, some 63% of voters in the north-east of Thailand - a Thaksin stronghold - rejected it. |