The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) may break its own rules if it fails to convene a meeting in June to gauge its readiness to prepare for the election, according to Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Mr Abhisit was responding to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam's comment that the session may be cancelled if no political parties accept the invitation to the meeting in June.
Mr Abhisit, who has said he will attend, said the Democrats have always cooperated with the NCPO in discussing matters related to the election.
If the NCPO decides not to hold the meeting, it runs the risk of violating Order 53/2560, which stipulates that it must discuss election-related issues with concerned agencies, and possibly with political parties too, after the organic bill on the election of MPs becomes law.
Currently, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has referred the organic bill to the Constitutional Court for a validity check, a process some analysts expect could be wrapped by June.
Mr Wissanu said yesterday a number of political parties have said that they are prepared to attend a meeting with the council about the election.
The government's legal expert agree the meeting can go ahead before June as it does not have to wait for the organic bill to clear the Constitutional Court first, he said.
He added there would be no problem if the Pheu Thai Party followed through with its threat not to attend, but warned that if too few parties are prepared to send delegates, the session might be cancelled altogether since the order does not state that all political parties must attend.
The June meeting, if held, will also be joined by members of the cabinet, the Constitution Drafting Committee, the NLA and the Election Commission.
Mr Wissanu said the meeting would be about when the NCPO will lift the ban on political activities and when the next general election will be organised.
The government will be duty-bound to issue a royal decree once a time frame is finalised, however, it will be the EC which will set the poll date after sounding out the most favourable day with related agencies.
