South Dovani

[Wu Han]

No Early Election, Says PM Prasert
18 June 5644 (OOC: Post-dated.)



Udon Nakhon — Despite 15% of seats in the National Assembly sitting vacant as a result of the recent Supreme Court ruling which dissolved the New Elephant Worker's Party and the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Prime Minister Prasert Thanomchai says there will be no early elections. The Prime Minister insists that his government retains both the authority and responsibility to govern.

Speaking to reporters from his vehicle, following a closed-door meeting with senior advisors and cabinet ministers, Prasert described calls for immediate elections as “crazy,” arguing that the country needs stability as it navigates the political, social, and economic fallout of the NERI Files scandal and the Supreme Court's unprecedented ruling under the National Integrity Act, as well as the ongoing conflict in the Eastern provinces.

“Empty seats are sometimes good, because they give space for thinking,” shouted the Prime Minister to a reporter's question, before drifting into an anecdote about a missing chair in his childhood home. "And the bigger point is you don't shake the table when daddy's soup is spilling.”

Opposition parties and protest organizers have argued that the scale of the vacancies left in the wake of the NEWP and PIE dissolutions, combined with weeks of mass demonstrations and public outrage triggered by the NERI Files, has eroded the Assembly’s democratic legitimacy. Justice Party (JP) leader Kawin Kittisakchai reiterated his call for elections “as soon as possible,” stating that “a legislature missing one in six representatives cannot credibly claim to speak for the nation,” particularly given that the next legislative election is not scheduled until 5649.

"This is what that boy wants! This was his whole little game with that bill!" said the Prime Minister in response to a question about Kawin's call for early elections. "Boy comes to the house of men with a little trap and expects us to run like mice toward his cheese. Sorry boy, I am a whole Army man, and I don't want your cheese!"

Despite the Prime Minister's confident remarks, his coalition is facing a political situation which has become increasingly fragile by the day. Reports continue to circulate that the Homeland Party (HP) is considering breaking with the government, with senior figures unsatisfied with the Prime Minister's response to the corruption scandal, particularly his response to questions around his alleged interference with the initial investigation undertaken in the 5630s by the Independent Anti-Corruption Agency (IACA). Similar speculation surrounds the far-right Hanzen Heritage Party (HHP), whose leadership is said to be growing impatient with what it views as paralysis at the top of government in addressing the threat of "separatist terror" in the East.

The Strong Nation Party (SNP), led by General Baroma Thannajaro, has reportedly sought to keep the government together during inter-party meetings between the coalition party leadership teams, emphasizing national security concerns and arguing that a government collapse or snap election could destabilize the country amid the Eastern insurgency and mass demonstrations which have rocked South Dovani for months.

Nonetheless, the government’s resistance to elections is widely interpreted as self-preservation. Opinion polls consistently show the Justice Party enjoying unprecedented levels of public support, fueled by anger over the NERI Files and the passage of the National Integrity Act, authored by Kawin. An early vote would likely deliver a decisive defeat to the governing right-wing bloc, a prospect coalition leaders appear determined to avoid.

"Look – Listen… because elections are like cooking rice. You don’t open when the lid when it’s still… when it's still democracy inside” said Prime Minister Prasert. "And I know one thing, as sure as I know anything... which is that boy – that boy's banana isn't ripe."



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