The university announced on Saturday that 70.6 per cent of the respondents thought the prime minister should be selected from among elected MPs, while 29.4 per cent said the prime minister could be an outsider. The survey comes amid growing speculation that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, would seek to remain PM after the election as an “outsider” selected by MPs and Senators after the election. The new constitution allows a non-MP to become the prime minister during a five-year transitional period after the military junta’s control ends with an election. In May 2017, the university’s survey found that 52.8 per cent of the respondents said they would vote for Prayut as the prime minister. Prayut recently said Thailand was going to have “Thai-style” democracy after the next election.

Source: The Nation Bangkok January 20, 2018 07:07 UTC