The members voted 213 to zero with four abstentions.

The bill was passed after almost 14 hours of deliberations on Thursday.

In the second reading of the bill, the stipulation deferring its enforcement by three months after the law is published in the Royal Gazette was passed with 196 votes for, 12 against, and 14 abstentions.

As a result of the new law, the next election, tentatively scheduled for November this year, could now be delayed until February next year.

The majority of the law vetting committee members reasoned that political parties needed the additional time to make changes in accordance with the new regulations. For instance, they would need to hold primary elections. Also, new members would not be eligible to contest in the election unless their membership was at least 90 days old, the legislators argued.

Some NLA members proposed an even longer postponement – by 150 to 180 days.

The lawmakers also spent considerable time debating punishment for those failing to exercise their voting rights, as well as the appropriateness of using entertainment in election campaigns.

The law vetting committee had proposed that voters who did not exercise their franchise should be disqualified from serving in some areas of the government sector such as in Parliament.

The legislators, however, disagreed, saying the punishment was disproportionate and deprived people of their rights. Not voting was not necessarily a lack of interest in politics but could be a way of expressing discontent, they argued.

The NLA eventually voted to only take away their right to appoint political officials and heads of local administration offices.

The NLA also voted to allow entertainment or recreational activities during election campaigns, but capped the spending on such activities at 20 per cent of the total campaign budget.

The charter drafters had sought a ban on entertainment activities in election campaigns, arguing it could be used for vote-buying and corruption.

Other legislators viewed it as an attraction to draw people to take part in political activities.

Following the passage of the bill, it would now be sent to the Election Commission and the Constitution Drafting Commission for review. After getting their nod, it would be sent to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to seek royal endorsement.

If the two commissions disagreed, a joint committee would be set up to revise the law.

The NLA is also deliberating the organic bill on the composition of the Senate today. It was the last one of the 10 organic laws.

Vorachai said the issue was not under the NACC’s authority. The anti-graft body’s pursuit of the case amounts to an attempt to override the higher authority of the legislative body that the MPs were elected to sit in, he said.

Vorachai said the bill the MPs had pushed for did not yield any benefits to anyone, contrary to people’s fears.

The amnesty bill was among several bills pushed in late 2013 before the military coup. Opponents alleged that the proposed legislation was intended to benefit certain figures including self-exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

One of the 40 MPs has filed a lawsuit demanding compensation from the NACC.

The court will hear the first testimony on the case in February.

DEPUTY Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan would not be required to declare his extravagant watch collection as assets under the anti-graft law if the watches did not belong to him, National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) secretary-general Worawit Sukboon said yesterday.

At an NACC press briefing yesterday, Worawit said that if the watches belonged to Prawit, he would have to explain when he obtained them.

If Prawit had obtained the watches before he took government office, he would have to explain why he had failed to list them in his assets declaration, he added. If he acquired them after entering the Cabinet he would not have to declare them until he left, Worawit said.

“Assets subject to be declared to the NACC must ‘belong’ to the person. Theoretically, if [the assets] do not belong to the person, his spouse, or his minor children, they won’t need to be declared,” said Worawit.

The explanation on the legal requirements came after weeks of investigation into Prawit’s luxury watches.

The controversy sparked off in early December and continues to capture the public’s attention, as the number of watches seen on the general’s wrist over time grew from one to more than 20. The combined worth of the watches is believed to exceed Bt20 million.

Questions have arisen over how he obtained the expensive items given the income of a retired general and whether he had declared them to the NACC before his incumbency.

Prawit, joint junta leader and defence minister, has been asked to clarify the origin of the watches following the emergence of dozens of photos showing him wearing fancy watches on many occasions.

The secretary-general has refused to disclose any further detail regarding the ownership of the watches.

If the watches were a loan, some critics question whether Prawit had breached the law that prohibited government officials from receiving gifts worth more than Bt3,000.

Worawit said NACC officials would look at all the legal aspects of the case.

While there was some concern that the loan explanation would become a new stock argument for politicians concealing assets, Worawit said the agency would not necessarily regard this type of defence as valid.

Worawit also said yesterday that the NACC president, Pol General Watcharapol Prasanratchakit, had announced in a meeting on Tuesday that he would withdraw from the panel probing the case.

This was despite the fact that he was neither a stakeholder, nor did he have any reason to be disqualified under the charter, the secretary-general said.

Watcharapol has come under pressure since the scandal broke.

The NACC president in 2014 had worked in the coup-installed government, closely under Prawit. The public has demonstrated distrust in the scrutiny of the junta leader with Watcharapol at the helm.

A brief scuffle also broke out at a press briefing after a solo pro-democracy activist Ake Auttagorn showed up unexpectedly and gave a picture to Worawit.

The pictures showed Napoleon the pig from George Orwell’s political allegory “Animal Farm”. There was also an image of “three wise monkeys” wearing diamond rings and watches.

Ake was quickly removed from the press conference room.

In the novella “Animal Farm”, Napoleon is a leader in the movement to overthrow the human ruler of the farm. He promises to make all animals equal and says he will never be like the oppressive men. But, after a while in power, Napoleon adopts human mannerisms and becomes “more equal” than the other animals.

Prawit, meanwhile, kept quiet and was guarded by six military aides who kept him away from reporters.

Suthep Thaugsuban, then-secretary-general of the now-defunct Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), and eight others who are politicians from the Democrat Party, all denied the nine charges.

The Criminal Court yesterday granted bail of Bt600,000 each for the nine defendants on the condition that they do not leave the country without court permission. The nine defendants earlier had offered a surety of Bt800,000 per person in applying for temporary release.

The court scheduled March 19 for their prosecution and for the defence to examine the lists of witnesses and evidence.

Suthep yesterday said all the nine PDRC leaders agreed to fight the court battle whatever the final court verdict would be.

“We believe in the Thai justice system,” he said, adding that they would not attempt to delay the trial, as had been alleged by some critics.

Suthep also said that the nine leaders should be the only defendants in the case, as they started “all the movement” while the other defendants simply played supporting roles.

In addition to the 69-year-old Suthep, the other defendants are Sathit Wongnongtaey, 57; Chumpol Julasai, 48; Buddhipong Punnakan, 50; Issara Somchai, 72; Witthaya Kaewparadai, 63; Thaworn Senneam, 71; Natthapol Thipasuwan, 52; and Ekkanat Promphan, 32.

Sedition, terrorism, belonging to a criminal organisation, unlawful gathering and obstructing an election were among the nine charges against them.

The PDRC held street protests at many locations in Bangkok for several months from November 2013 to May 2014 against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra. Many thousands of people took part in the protests. The political turmoil was used as an excuse for the military led by the then army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha to stage the coup.

A key PDRC member, Sakoltee Phattiyakul, yesterday posted in his Facebook that he had no regrets about what he and his group had done. “If the clock turned back, (I) would do it again,” |he said in the post with hashtag #fight tooth and nail.

During that period, Suthep and other PDRC leaders often led the protesters to the offices of different state agencies and asked their officials to join the rally. The PDRC held a large-scale Bangkok Shutdown campaign in early 2014 at seven key locations in the city, paralysing most of the capital.

The nine PDRC leaders are among the 58 people originally accused in the cases stemming from the anti-government protests between 2013 and 2014, Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) deputy spokesman Prayuth Phetkhun said yesterday. The accused people were leaders or key supporters of the demonstrations.

The Department of Special Investigation, during the Pheu Thai-led government, in May 2014, had requested the Attorney-General to bring the case to court. The public prosecutors later dropped the case against one of the accused, a lecturer at Thammasat University.

In May 2014, four of the accused – including academic Sombat Thamrongthanyawong and media celebrity Seree Wongmontha – were brought to court on the charge of sedition and other charges.

The remaining defendants have sought postponement of their appearance before court, the spokesman said yesterday.

Chartpong Jiraphan, deputy director-general of the Office of the Attorney-General’s Special Litigation Department, said yesterday that the agency would consider whether the defendants had provided justifiable reasons to seek postponement. If their reasons were found to be insufficient, they would be told to show up before court soon, he added.

An OAG working group on the case yesterday evening resolved that the 34 remaining defendants who failed to show up yesterday should report themselves to public prosecutors on March 14 regarding the charges against them, according to a source.

In a statement, the former ruling party warned that any further delay in the next election would significantly impact Thailand’s credibility in the eyes of the international community.

“We call on the relevant agencies to stop harming the country through legal cheating. And they have to speed up the return of power to the people, as stated in the road map,” Pheu Thai said in its statement released yesterday.

The party noted that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who also heads the ruling junta, had clearly informed the world community that the election would take place in November this year.

Its move came after the committee vetting the MP election bill sought to stay the enforcement of the key legislation for 90 days after it is promulgated, instead of the following day after its enactment.

Pheu Thai said it suspected the vetting committee’s decision was politically motivated, with the hidden goal of allowing the people in power to extend their time in office.

It said the ruling junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and its organs had used “legal tactics” on many occasions that aroused suspicion that they wanted to stay on in power. The statement pointed to the National Reform Council’s vote against the first constitutional draft as an example of such alleged tactics.

“The NCPO and its organs have tried every means – through their powers and the laws that they create, and also through orders issued by the NCPO head – to gain political advantages for themselves and the political groups that support the NCPO,” Pheu Thai said.

Pheu Thai noted that even after the organic law on political parties became effective, the junta has not lifted its ban on political activities. Instead, it issued a new order last month that was viewed as undermining the existing political parties while favouring new ones to be set up in support of the junta, the party said.

It said that with a postponement in the enactment of the election law, existing political parties would still be banned from holding activities such as convening meetings. However, it added that as a result, the junta and its organs such as the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) would stay longer in power.

Meanwhile, the law-vetting committee, which held its last meeting to amend the MP election bill yesterday, insisted on postponement of the enforcement of the MP selection bill to 90 days from its first promulgation. Those wanting to see it extended further to 120 days could propose that in a motion at the NLA meeting today, said Kittisak Rattanawaraha, a committee member.

The committee’s spokesperson, Taweesak Sootakawatin, insisted on the need to extend the period, given it was a part of political reform that facilitated primary voting, for which political parties needed time to prepare themselves.

He slammed the media as reporting with political bias and failing to see the need for political reform.

Taweesak said some NLA members had proposed the extension to be 120 days, as they feared 90 days would not be enough.

The NLA is set to deliberate on the committee’s amended bill in its second and third readings today.

Ake was the activist who in 2013 held up the banner saying “respect my vote”, protesting against Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva during the political upheaval that led to the coup.

The picture presented to NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon was of Napoleon the pig from George Orwell’s famous political allegory “Animal Farm”. There was also an image of “three wise monkeys” wearing diamond rings and watches.

At the time, Worawit was briefing the media on progress in the investigation on the origin of the luxury timepieces worn by Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan.

Ake, who emerged out of nowhere and said he had a gift for the NACC official, was quickly removed from the press conference room.

In the novella “Animal Farm”, Napoleon is a leader in the movement to overthrow the human ruler of the farm. He promises to make all animals equal and says he will never be like the oppressive men. But, after a while in power, Napoleon adopts human mannerisms and becomes “more equal” than the other animals.

In a statement, the previously ruling party warned that any further delay in the next election would significantly impact Thailand’s credibility in the eyes of the international community.

“We call on the relevant agencies to stop harming the country through this legal cheating. And they have to speed up the return of power to the people, as stated in the road map,” Pheu Thai said in the statement released on Wednesday.

The party noted that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who also heads the ruling junta, had clearly informed the world community that the election would take place in November this year.

Its move came after the committee vetting the MP election bill sought to stay the enforcement of the key legislation for 90 days after it is promulgated, instead of the day after its enactment.

Pheu Thai said that it suspected the vetting committee’s decision was politically motivated, with the hidden goal of allowing the people in power to extend their time in office.

It said the ruling junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), and its organs had used “legal tactics” on many occasions that aroused suspicions that they wanted to stay on in power. The statement pointed to the National Reform Council’s vote against the first constitutional draft as an example of such alleged tactics.

“The NCPO and its organs have tried every means – through their powers and the laws that they create, and also through orders issued by the NCPO head – to gain political advantages for themselves and the political groups that support the NCPO,” Pheu Thai said.

Pheu Thai noted that even after the organic law on political parties became effective, the junta had not lifted its ban on political activities. Instead, the junta issued a new order last month that was viewed as undermining the existing political parties while favouring new ones to be set up in support of the junta, the party said.

It said that with a postponement in the election law’s enactment, existing political parties would still be banned from holding activities such as convening meetings. However, it added that, as a result, the junta and its organs such as the National Legislative Assembly would stay in power longer.

Worawit Sukboon, secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, announced at a press conference on Wednesday morning that Watcharapol had stated his intention at an NACC meeting the day before.

Watcharapol has been closely connected to General Prawit since 2014, when he served as deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Prime Minister.

After it became widely known that Prawit had in his possession up to 25 watches whose value far exceeded his earnings, citizens made it clear they didn’t trust Watcharapol to oversee an NACC investigation into the matter.

Prawit also failed to declare the watches to the NACC as valuable assets when he joined the Cabinet, as is required by law.

Worawit said the NACC had asked Prawit for a third time to provide further information about how he came to possess so many luxury watches.

General Prawit has said he merely borrowed the watches from wealthy friends. Now, Worawit said, the agency had arranged to interview several individuals Prawit named in connection with the matter.

He said the investigation should be completed by the end of February. If the watches do indeed turn out to belong to Prawit’s friends, he could not be judged guilty of concealing assets, Worawit said, but the NACC would consider other legal aspects of the case.

This followed the listing of arrest warrants against eight prominent members of the demonstration movement on allegations of gathering more than five persons for staging a political protest, which is banned by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

A total of 144 organisations issued the statement on Tuesday denouncing the oppression of the campaigners of the long march for protecting citizens’ rights and demanding that the authorities respect freedom of expression.

The umbrella non-governmental organisations People GO Network started their long march from Thammasart University in Pathumthani to Khon Kaen last Saturday to campaign for the protection of universal health coverage, food security, community rights, and political rights. However, from the very first hours of their march, the activists faced strong interference from the police and military officers.

The NCPO saw their activity as a political protest and hence a violation of NCPO order 3/2558, so its representative filed a complaint with Klong Luang Police in Pathum Thani on Sunday against eight prominent members of the march. This is despite the fact that the marchers have tried to avoid violating this order by dividing into separate groups of four persons.

“The organisations listed below commonly view that this march is the rightful exercising of freedom of expression, which is protected by the current Constitution and does not affect national stability, but it will disturb legislation and policy planning of NCPO to benefit some capitalists, so we support this campaign, as it alerts the public to this problem,” the statement reads.

It was also claimed in the statement that oppression of the activists in this campaign was a vivid example of the unjust use of power by the NCPO against the people. It urged the NCPO to protect the people’s rights, accept the campaigners’ demands, and return full democracy to Thai society.

Meanwhile, the People GO Network has asked for donations of equipment for their communication team to broadcast via Facebook Live, as they have had difficulties in properly broadcasting the whole march during the first days of their campaign.

Their list of needed equipment was: five mobile phones, two external batteries, two tripods for mobile phone, and two selfie sticks.

The group stated on their Facebook page that they did not want money donation and did not need expensive equipment, as they just required usable communication tools for broadcasting live throughout the march.

It was reasoned that they have to broadcast all their journey live to let people easily watch their campaign and prevent any unexpected operations against the protesters.

The planned election date in November – as promised by Prayut during his visit to Washington last year – is appearing less likely as the bill vetting committee under the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is set to amend the MPs election bill, putting off its enforcement for 90 days.

The NLA will deliberate the MPs election bill tomorrow and some members have suggested the delay should be 120 days.

Prayut yesterday did not mention his previous promise that he would announce the election date midyear and the poll could be expected by November.

Prior to the US visit, Prayut had made several other promises on the end of the so-called “road map” and the election, but he has not succeeded in fulfilling them.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said he hoped the international community would understand that the possible delay was in the hands of the NLA.

“We have to make it clear that lawmaking is under the legislative body and the prime minister is not a member of that body. He is the chief of the executive branch,” Don told reporters yesterday.

Don added that he would explain the process to the international community but could not guarantee that they would understand.

While the NLA is the rubber stamp of the military junta, Prayut said yesterday he would not overrule the authority of legislature.

“I have to be the example, showing that we have to have faith in the Parliament,” he said. “I am confident in the NLA and the Constitution Drafting Commission [CDC]. I’ll never transgress in their work.

“Transgression into the system is not good at all. It would make it impossible for people to work,” he said. He also advised people to listen to different opinions and not rely on only a single source.

“There are not many groups of people that keep talking about this issue [the election delay],” he said.

The election would take place eventually, but when and how would depend on decisions by involved agencies, he said.

“Everything follows the Constitution and the road map,” Prayut said. “We all want the country to be peaceful and move forward smoothly. The delay in the enforcement of the MPs election bill will also follow the Constitution.”

Influence denied

Critics question whether the bill vetting committee has been influenced by the junta in their move to delay the poll.

Meanwhile, NLA whip spokesman Jate Siratharanon said yesterday the government had not sent any signals to the legislature regarding the controversial amendment.

While debate still persists within the vetting committee, he said he would argue that the 90-day delay was necessary.

Considering the ongoing ban on political activities, political parties remain frozen. They could not hold meetings or carry out primary votes to determine election candidates, Jate said. Postponing the enforcement for another 90 days would give political parties time to prepare before the election period, he said.

Chief charter writer Meechai Ruchupan yesterday said the delay did not necessarily mean the election would be delayed, but if it was, it should not be longer than two to three months.

“The calculation is usually based on the assumption that we use up the maximum time. But if the process can go quicker, then the election can take place sooner,” Meechai said.

In a related development, political critics and the Election Commission (EC) have suggested it would be easier if the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) lifted the ban and allowed political activities.

Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, a NCPO key member, yesterday said the government might have a different view on the matter and questioned whether the EC had the power to tell the government what to do. The organic bills had not been passed yet “so everyone should calm down. We will surely lift the ban,” Prawit said.

Asked whether the government would discuss the issue with the NLA as its image was at stake, Prawit said: “The government has not made any change to the road map. We have not done anything. It’s all [in the hands of] the NLA and the CDC. There are more than 200 legislators, we cannot possibly talk to all of them.”