“Most of the principles and essence of the draft organic law violate Section 45 of the new charter, which stipulates that people are free to co-found political parties,” said Kanin Boonsuwan, a member of Pheu Thai Party’s legal team. The new charter passed in a referendum in August.

With stringent conditions and permission required from Election Commission registrars to set up new parties, the draft law would deter people from taking part in politics, he said.

Kanin’s remarks came in response to the organic law, which was completed and disclosed by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) last week. The law on political parties is the first of 10 organic laws that drafters are required to write in line with the new charter. It was disclosed to the public last Wednesday.

The draft law has drawn criticism from politicians and academics over its stringent conditions and harsh penalties, which entail up to 20 years in prison and the death penalty for politicians and party members found guilty of fraud. The draft does not stipulate that political parties be dissolved before re-registration, as had been speculated. But it specifies dissolution as a penalty in certain cases.

The law would also require that members of both existing and new parties would be held responsible for annual fees, with the status of members who fail to pay fees two years in a row to be determined.

For new political parties, members would be required to pay between Bt2,000 and Bt500,000 for seed funding. New parties would also be required to have at least 500 founding members.

All parties must have up to 5,000 members by the end of the first year and 20,000 within four years.

Kanin said the required membership fee and seed funding would block low-income people from playing a part in politics.

Party members would be treated like “second-class citizens” because of the death penalty and the ban on party members’ rights being senators or members, of independent organisations or the Constitutional Court, he said.

“For those who know that being party members means the risk of going to prison, no one will want to be members. So, does the CDC want to build or destroy political parties?”

Kanin also speculated that Section 32 of the law, which would require parties to set up regional branches with at least 500 members in each branch, would allow wealthy special interests to play a role in political parties rather than promote popular parties.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon called on the CDC yesterday to review the law to ensure it abides with legal guidelines, including being practical, does not generate new problems, infringe on people’s rights, and promotes ideological parties for the public.

While the draft law has come under fire from politicians, it has yet to be finalised because it still needs to be deliberated by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

NLA member Taweesak Sutkawatin said the law could be edited if political parties voiced constructive opinions in a forum to be held to collect comments from the public sector. “Political parties can suggest that the CDC should be practical about the law … But the suggestions should not be the same pattern as in the past,” he said.