The president of the National Legislative Assembly said on Tuesday he had sent the organic bill on the election of MPs to the prime minister for royal approval and he expected a general election next year.
NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said he forwarded to bill last Friday after receiving the official ruling from the Constitutional Court on its legality.
The next step was for Gen Prayut to submit the bill to His Majesty the King for approval, he said.
Everything would happen next year as set out in the government's roadmap, Mr Pornpetch said, referring to the prime minister's earlier confirmation that the country would go to the polls next February.
Mr Pornpetch also the NLA was waiting for legislation on local elections and he would like it to be passed before the general election.
On May 30, the Constitutional Court ruled on whether two sections in the MP election bill were constitutional or not. The two issues were Section 35 on the revocation of political rights for those who fail to vote, and Section 92 on allowing others to mark the ballot card in the polling booth for voters with disabilities.
The bill sailed through the NLA in March, but 27 members petitioned the charter court to examine it after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha fretted about the bill’s constitutionality and if there could be problems later if its legal standing remained unclear - a move sceptics saw as a ploy to further delay the general election.
The main concerns the NLA members cited were one clause that allows election staff or others to help disabled people cast their vote, and another that bars anyone who previously failed to vote in a national election without due cause from being appointed to a political office.
The bill on the election of MPs is the last of the 10 organic laws required by the constitution to be promulgated before an election can take place.
The ruling clears the way for the prime minister to submit the bill for royal endorsement. After it is published in the Royal Gazette, it come into effect 90 days later. The constitution requires an election be held within 150 days of that date.