For a prime minister who came to power as a by-product of the March general election, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha seemed to find it difficult to resist the temptation of using that poll to justify his legitimacy to rule during his recent mobile cabinet meeting trip. But when it comes to setting dates for local polls, he has remained noncommittal and ruled out the need to accelerate the electoral process, which has been frozen for more than five years since he staged the 2014 coup.
Perhaps his hostility towards elections still exists. Or possibly, he has more to lose than to gain from local polls. Either way, his government must set the date for the elections, which need to take place sooner rather than later.
Gen Prayut did not contest in the last election. He got the PM's job through the nomination of the Palang Pracharath Party. Before the election, as head of the now-defunct National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Gen Prayut hesitated in letting parliamentary elections take place and postponed polls several times.
Yet, during his trip to Ratchaburi province last week, he expressed his gratitude for the electoral process, reminding locals that he "also came from an election".
But it is disappointing that he aggressively criticised those who called for the government to accelerate the organisation of local polls. On Monday in Kanchanaburi province, he told locals that he wondered why the elections were a matter of "life or death" for them, questioning why they are so desperate to hold the polls at a time when the country is still "in danger".
He emphasised that during this "transition period", it's necessary to ensure that safety and stability are in place prior to moving on to the next step of holding local elections.
Critics were caught off guard by his message, given that he offered no clues as to what kind of danger could hinder the elections. If the country managed to hold the general election seven months ago without any danger, why can't Thailand go ahead with holding local polls in the coming months?
Even though Gen Prayut said the elections would take place next year, he refused to offer a specific timeline.
Without elections of new local administrators and councillors to fill almost 100,000 positions nationwide, Gen Prayut can still bank on political support from those whom he either directly appointed, such as the Bangkok governor, or extended terms in office for during his tenure as NCPO head. Critics have correctly pointed out that these appointed officials represent his interests rather than those of local people.
Gen Prayut has every reason to worry that the local elections will do more harm than good to his government, and that opposition parties could end up gaining more seats than those from his camp.
But his government will still have greater control over these local administrative bodies, thanks to four laws passed by the NCPO-appointed lawmakers in April this year.
The laws will weaken the process of decentralising power as they will cut the number of tambon councillors by half, while reducing the authority of local organisations via directives and orders from the central government.
The NCPO-appointed lawmakers have redesigned democracy for Thailand, transforming it into a half-baked or hybrid form whether in the result of a general election or local polls.
But many people still have faith in the election process and the government must stop giving nonsensical excuses to delay the local polls.