The king has already endorsed an interim constitution which grants the army absolutist powers. The new document is so retrograde as to make the constitution of 1997, which gave the people a voice, look like an aberration in Thai history. A national assembly has been seated, and begun to take up its docile work. The ID cards that were distributed to the legislators are not marked to expire until 2020—which leaves some people hoping there was a printing error. After all, the junta has promised to hold an election in late 2015.