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Thailand sets date for election Thailand sets date for election
(about 2 hours 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% backed the new draft in a referendum earlier this month, though many pro-Thaksin areas rejected it.
"We consider December 23, 2007, is the appropriate date," election commission chief Apichart Sukhagganond said, according to the AFP news agency. "We consider 23 December 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."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 Coalition government
The announcement comes just over a week after a new constitution was approved in the country's first-ever referendum. Aspiring politicians now have around four months to prepare for the polls, reports the BBC's Jonathan Head from Bangkok.
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. Thai Rak Thai, Mr Thaksin's former party, has been renamed the People Power Party and appointed a veteran right-wing politician, Samak Sundaravej, to lead it into the election.
But critics have called the new charter less democratic, pointing out that it proposes the Senate should be only partly elected. Top executives in the party have been barred from holding political office for five years, and Mr Thaksin remains in exile, but he retains strong popular support in the poor north and north-east of Thailand.
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. Even so, our correspondent adds, the party is unlikely to win enough votes for an outright majority.
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. There have been intense negotiations among Thailand's traditional political power-brokers in recent weeks to form other new parties for the election.
Many are local strongmen who have dominated their districts for decades and who joined Thai Rak Thai while Mr Thaksin was in office, but broke away after last year's coup.
The main party which opposed Mr Thaksin, the Democrats, has survived the last year intact, but its support has dwindled in recent years, and it is also unlikely to win a majority.
That means the next government will almost certainly be a coalition - and in the past, coalition governments in Thailand have acquired a reputation for being short-lived, and very corrupt, our correspondent says.