Thailand’s main party urges junta to lift ban on political activity

Thailand’s Puea Thai Party on Wednesday urged the ruling junta to end a ban on political activity since the 2014 coup. It fears a delay could signal that a general election promised for next year might be pushed back yet again, Reuters reports. The rare statement from the party whose government was ousted in 2014 comes amid growing calls from groups of all political stripes to scrap the ban ahead of the November 2018 election. After a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the 2014 coup, said the ban would be retained because Thailand was not ready for political conflicts.