The cabinet has been briefed by the Election Commission (EC) on its role as a caretaker administration once the House of Representatives has been dissolved.
EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee confirmed this after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who oversees government legal affairs, amid expectations that a royal decree dissolving the House of Representatives will soon be published in the Royal Gazette, probably on Tuesday.
After the House dissolution, the current administration would have authority only as a caretaker government.
Mr Sawaeng said he discussed with Mr Wissanu what the caretaker government can and cannot do under Section 169 of the 2017 constitution, particularly about cabinet ministers going out on the campaign trail ahead of the general election.
Based on Section 169, the EC had issued a regulation prohibiting caretaker cabinet ministers from utilising state resources and personnel for their own advantage.
Mr Sawaeng said he had not discussed possible election dates with Mr Wissanu. The EC would decide this after the House dissolution.
If the House were to be dissolved on Tuesday, the EC would consider the election date the next day, he added.
Asked whether this was likely to be May 7 or May 14, Mr Sawaeng said the election must be held within 45 to 60 days after a dissolution. What was certain was that the polls would be held on a holiday, he said.
Mr Sawaeng said the government had not expressed a preference for any date for the election.
Asked whether petitions filed with the Administrative Court for an early hearing by political parties that disagreed with the map of constituencies redrawn by the EC would delay the election, Mr Sawaeng said he would rather not speculate on this matter.
If there were to be an emergency hearing the EC would have wait for the court’s ruling, but the time-frame stipulated by the constitution must be followed, he said.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Wissanu said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had forwarded a draft royal decree dissolving the House of Representatives to His Majesty the King.
Mr Wissanu said the election date was not mentioned in the decree. Under the constitution, the government could only issue the decree. The EC would fix the election date after it is published in the Royal Gazette.
Asked whether the decree would be published on Tuesday, Mr Wissanu said, “probably”.