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Thai King, Maha Vajiralongkorn, is scheduled to publicly endorse Thailand’s 20th constitution on Thursday, the day the country celebrates the reigning Chakri dynastry, the palace confirmed, on Monday.
According to a Royal Household Bureau statement, the king will sign his endorsement for the constitution and bestow it upon Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at his palace in Bangkok, followed by a 21-gun salute.
The promulgation of the country’s new constitution was delayed when the king in January requested an amendment to the drafted constitution approved by a majority of Thai voters in a nationwide referendum in August.
The changes concerned the designation of a regent when the king was outside Thailand or unable to perform his duties, local media reported.
Vajiralongkorn spent considerable time living in Germany in recent years as Thailand’s crown prince, making his private villa there his second home.
However, his primary residence remains in Bangkok.
The promulgation of the constitution will set in motion the process for general elections in the second half of 2018, after several postponements by the military government, which has been in power since a May 2014 coup.
The elections should take place between August and September 2018, junta spokesperson Werachon Sukondhapatipak told dpa.
He added that a maximum of 18 months was required for legal procedures following the constitution’s promulgation.
Thursday marks the annual public holiday to celebrate Vajiralongkorn’s ancestor King Rama I’s establishment of the Chakri dynasty 235 years ago.
Vajiralongkorn is also known as King Rama X, the 10th in the line. (NAN)
