BANGKOK — The Cabinet on Tuesday gave a greenlight to elections for members of Provincial Administrative Organizations, or PAO, across the country within December.
The polls will be the first since the military seized power in 2014 and suspended elections for local administrators indefinitely. The last nationwide elections for PAO seats took place nearly a decade ago, back in 2012.
Move Forward Committee, the political arm of the opposition Move Forward Party, immediately announced that it will reveal its party candidates for the local elections on Friday.
Pannika Wanich, executive member of Move Forward Committee, said on Tuesday the party is “nearly 100 percent ready” to contest for local government seats.
Thanathorn Juangroongruagkit, former leader of the now disbanded Future Forward Party, will also help the Move Forward’s campaign by giving a public talk on Friday on the topic of how local voting can improve community well being in Thailand.
The PAO operates in 76 provinces and does not have a jurisdiction in Bangkok; the capital is governed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, whose gubernatorial election is also expected to take place by December.
