BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s military-dominated legislature has held its first meeting in another step toward the country’s slow return to electoral democracy after more than two months under the junta’s rule.
The 197-member National Legislative Assembly will nominate the interim prime minister, who will then choose Cabinet members. It held its first meeting Friday at the parliament in Bangkok after the military overthrew an elected government and parliament in a May 22 coup.
More than half of the lawmakers hold military ranks.
In their inaugural meeting, they voted unanimously to elect former Harvard-educated Supreme Court Judge Pornpetch Wichitcholchai as the assembly president.
The dominance of active and retired military officers in the legislative body will reinforce the army’s hold on power in the run-up to the 2015 polls.
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