Thai junta lifts campaign ban ahead of polls

Thailand’s junta on Tuesday lifted a ban on political campaigning ahead of 2019 elections, more than four years after the restriction was imposed following the kingdom’s latest coup.

One of the military’s first acts after seizing power in May 2014 was to outlaw political activity of all kind, as it muzzled opposition in a country notorious for its rowdy – and often deadly – street politics.

But the ban was officially lifted on Tuesday, prompting the Election Commission to confirm an expected poll date of February 24.

“Political parties should be able to campaign to present their policies,” according to an order signed by junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha and published by palace mouthpiece the Royal Gazette.

The junta “has decided to amend or abolish the laws” which could inhibit campaigns before elections, it said.

Thailand’s rulers began easing restrictions in September.

Tuesday’s order raises the prospect of a return to Thailand’s rambunctious politics and the potential for street rallies that have defined much of the turbulent last decade of Thai politics.

Scores have died in street protests between competing factions over the past decade, as politics sharply polarized between supporters of the powerful Shinawatra clan – popular in the poor, populous north and northeast – and the royalist, conservative Bangkokcentric elite backed by the army.