The king of Thailand has endorsed a royal decree to hold the
election on October 15, the Cabinet Secretariat announced on
Friday.
The secretariat said that the king signed the decree on Thursday
before he went to hospital for a surgery.
Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dissolved
Parliament in February and called for a snap election in an effort
to renew his mandate, but opposition parties boycotted the polls,
leaving Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party as the only major party on
the ballot.
After that, the Constitutional Court nullified the April 2
elections and the following by-elections since several parties were
suspected of cheating.
(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2006)
