The Royal Decree on the election of members of the parliament has already been submitted to His Majesty the King for his Royal approval, said Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam on Saturday.

He reaffirmed that the election date remains unchanged on February 24, but the date for advance voting for overseas voters may be moved forward to be on the same day as the advance voting for domestic voters.

He clarified that the political party which wants to nominate Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as its candidate for the premiership would have until five days after the opening of the application for election candidacy to submit the name of its candidate for the next prime minister to the Election Commission so a list of the premiership candidates can be made public for acknowledgement.

As for the prime minister who is not a party member, Dr Wissanu said the former could continue to perform his duty as the prime minister as normal such as holding cabinet meetings at the Government House or outside Bangkok, making reshuffles of government officials or dissolving the National Legislative Assembly.

However, he said the prime minister could not engage in election campaigning or even mentioning the policies of political parties because he is still a government official, but the Palang Pracharat party could refer to the prime minister.

He admitted that the prime minister might have a political edge over the other parties but that did not mean he would take advantage over the other parties.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, meanwhile, said that his government would continue to do its job until a new post-election government is installed into the office.

He stressed the government’s determination to address problems affecting the people and urged all parties concerned to join the government in driving the country to move forward.