NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said he had received a letter from the Prime Minister, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who had given the green light for the NLA to send the matter to the Court.

As concern has been increasing that the election in February may not be possible, Pornpetch added that the NLA had asked the Court to rush its deliberation to ensure the election road map is not affected.

The post came after his resignation at the end of March from news station PPTV, where he was a senior news director.

Vanchai was reportedly pressured to leave the job because of his frequent criticism of the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

Under Vanchai’s leadership, PPTV had reportedly been persistent in scrutinising the junta, including over the case involving General Prawit Wongsuwan’s possession of luxury watches.

In his Facebook post, Vanchai wrote that security officers kept a record of how many times each person with a large number of followers on social media criticised the junta government. When that limit was reached, that person would be visited by officers, he said.

“Some are just visited. Others are visited, pressured, and weeded out,” Vanchai wrote.

Prawit, also a key man in the NCPO, denied the report on Tuesday. “Not [true]. This is so full of hot air,” Prawit said.

MAJOR POLITICAL parties have put pressure on the junta to revoke or amend its controversial order viewed as imposing restrictions on party activities and pave the way for the next election.

Pheu Thai Party acting secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said yesterday the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) should nullify the order completely and stop stalling for time. The situation today was unlike when the coup was staged almost four years ago and everyone was looking forward to an election, he said.

The NCPO Order No 53/60 was issued in December to allow certain political activities required by the new Political Party Act, while maintaining the junta ban on most other political activities.

It permits political parties to manage the confirmation of current party members, collect membership fees and find new members. But party meetings still require permission from the NCPO.

Phumtham yesterday said Pheu Thai would not seek permission from the junta. The party had done so before but never received a response, he said, adding that if the NCPO revoked the order, the party would be able to convene a meeting right away.

“I don’t think it’s necessary that we have to get permission every time. Rather, all the orders should be nullified,” Phumtham said. “Everyone prioritises the national interest. There’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Democrat Party legal expert Virat Kalayasiri said yesterday he would welcome a junta move to at least amend the controversial order.

“The NCPO should amend it after it has caused such difficulty to political parties. The Election Commission, the Ombudsman and political parties agree that it is problematic,” he said. “The confirmation of members imposed by the order is not only a burden but also a deprivation of rights.”

Since the directive was made, political parties have complained that having members reconfirm their membership was not different from resetting parties back to their founding. If members did not confirm their status, parties would lose them as members. It was also a burden to have to urge members to comply with a rule that involved a lot of documentation, they argued.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday that the Council of State – the government’s legal advisory agency – was writing a draft amendment to the controversial junta order. He said final approval from the NCPO was needed before an amended version of the order was announced.

“The Council of State is preparing the draft. But I don’t know when the change will be made. That will need approval from the NCPO,” said Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs.

The government and the NCPO were aware of the issues raised by political parties regarding the NCPO order and representatives from the government and NCPO last week met with their counterparts from the Election Commission to discuss the matter, the deputy prime minister said.

Most of the issues involved the practicality of certain clauses in the order, and amendments to the original order were expected to address those problems, he said.

When Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha was asked about calls for amendments to the NCPO order, he said the authorities involved “are considering” the matter.

The Ombudsman’s Office has asked the Constitutional Court to determine whether the order deprives political parties of certain rights and puts an additional burden on them.

In a related development, Prayut said yesterday he was going to return the controversial MP election bill to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) so that the body could forward it to the Constitutional Court for a verdict on the legality of certain clauses.

“I will soon send it back to the NLA so that they can petition the court,” Prayut said.

Wissanu asked the NLA yesterday to petition the court as soon as possible so that a verdict could be rendered quickly.

He said that NLA members could immediately take the case to the court rather than waiting for the prime minister to send the actual bill back to them.

The NLA was set to submit today the organic law governing MP elections to the Constitutional Court for a ruling on its constitutionality, NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said yesterday.

The move could delay the election expected by February next year, but Pornpetch said the Election Commission could consider expediting the work and hold an election early.

Pornpetch said last week that he would seek a Constitutional Court verdict regarding the constitutionality of the bill only after it was clear that Prayut had not done so and had not submitted the bill for royal endorsement.

A group of 27 NLA members had submitted a petition to Pornpetch requesting that he seek a court ruling on the matter on the assembly’s behalf.

Their petition pointed to certain clauses in the MP election bill that could be deemed unconstitutional, according to an NLA member who signed the petition. These included a provision that would deprive non-voters of their right to become political officials, and a clause that would allow election officials to assist disabled and elderly voters in casting their ballots.

Critics have warned that those provisions could be deemed unconstitutional and cause the next election to be declared void.

Final approval from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is needed before an amended version of the order is announced, he added.

“The Council of State is preparing the draft. But I don’t know when the change will be made. That will need approval from the NCPO,” said Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs.

The government and the NCPO had been aware of the issues raised by political parties regarding NCPO Order No 53/2560, and representatives from the government and the NCPO last week met with their counterparts from the Election Commission to discuss the matter, the deputy PM said.

Most of the issues involved the practicality of certain clauses in the order, and amendments to the original order are expected to address those problems, he explained.

The order, issued in December by General Prayut Chan-o-cha in his capacity as head of the NCPO, made amendments to the Political Parties Act.

Established political parties, namely Pheu Thai and the Democrats, have complained about certain clauses in the order, arguing that some put them at a disadvantage while others are impractical.

Meanwhile, when Prime Minister Prayut was also asked about the calls for amendments to the NCPO order, he said the authorities involved “are considering” the matter.

The Ombudsman’s Office has asked the Constitutional Court to determine whether the order deprives the political parties of certain rights and puts an additional burden on them.

The premier and his Cabinet members will leave Bangkok at 7am by C-130 aircraft from a military airport and fly straight to Pattani Airport in Nong Chik district.

Prayut and his entourage will then go to Central Stadium for the official opening of the 13th meeting of scouts in the Southern border provinces.

Colonel Taksada Sangkachan said the five-day meeting would start on Tuesday with the aim of showing the Asean Community the potential of the scouting movement in the Southern border provinces.

After that, the premier will chair a meeting on economic and society development for the border region, the spokeswoman said.

In the afternoon, Prayut will hand over sporting equipment to representatives of five schools in Kokepho district before visiting a community where Buddhists and Muslims live together in harmony.

He will leave for Bangkok in the evening. This will be the second time Prayut has visited Pattani as prime minister. His first visit was made in November last year.

“I will soon send it back to the NLA so that they can petition with the court,” Prayut said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, asked the NLA on Monday to petition the court as soon as possible so that a verdict could come out early.

He said that NLA members could immediately take the case to the court rather than waiting for the PM to send the actual bill back to them.

NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said last week that he would seek a Constitutional Court verdict regarding the constitutionality of the bill only after it was clear that Prayut had not done so and had not submitted the bill for royal endorsement.

A group of NLA members had submitted a petition to Pornpetch requesting that he seek a court ruling on the matter on the assembly’s behalf.

Their petition pointed to certain clauses in the MP election bill that could be deemed unconstitutional, according to an NLA member who signed the petition. These included a provision that would deprive non-voters of their right to become political officials, and a clause that would allow election officials to assist disabled and elderly voters in casting their ballots.

Critics have warned that those provisions could be deemed unconstitutional and cause the next election to be declared void.

Life began returning to normal yesterday as longstanding political parties were allowed by the junta to update their party membership roles.

The parties had been forced to refrain from contacting their members since the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) issued its order banning political activities shortly after the coup in May 2014.

According to the NCPO No 53/2560 issued last December, existing political parties must ensure members confirm their party memberships between yesterday and April 30. Members who do not confirm their places during that short window will lose their status as party members.

The day was indeed eventful. Yesterday, the Democrat Party began the membership reaffirmation process at its headquarters with hundreds of the party’s former MPs and supporters flocking to outdoor tents stationed in the party office’s parking lot.

The day began with party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva reaffirming his membership via the mobile application D-Connect and paying a Bt2,000 lifetime party fee. Other members can pay as little as Bt100 to maintain their membership on an annual basis.

At least 556 people paid for lifetime fees while another 752 people paid the annual amount, reaching Abhisit’s goal of collecting at least Bt1-million in seed funding on the first day.

The country’s oldest party, which has about 2.5 million members according to the roles late last year, invited members to confirm their membership by showing up with required documents in hand at more than 300 party offices across the country, including at the party headquarters in Bangkok.

In remote areas and for elderly supporters, the party will send staff to visit members and collect the necessary documents, Democrat deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon said.

The Election Commission (EC) requires confirmations to include a copy of members’ personal IDs and household registrations, along with a letter of confirmations with signatures on three copies and receipts for the membership fees.

“The process is complicated, especially with the EC requiring all the documents be in a paper format. I wonder if we will have to carry a photocopying machine while we are visiting members? We are living in Thailand 4.0, aren’t we?” Ongart asked rhetorically, referring to the government’s initiative promoting technology in the economy.

Logistical issues

For its part, Pheu Thai Party is inviting former MPs and members to appear at its headquarters on Wednesday, coinciding with the party’s tradition of early celebrating the Thai New Year on that day. Members will pour water over the hands of senior figures and ask for a blessing, said Phumtham Wechayachai, acting secretary-general of Pheu Thai.

Phumtham Wechayachai

“It should not be regarded as a political gathering, which is still banned by the junta,” he said.

Pheu Thai has about 120,000 current members, with Phumtham voicing concern that parties would lose a large portion of their membership given the short period of time allowed for membership confirmation.

Bhum Jai Thai Party’s merit-making ceremony yesterday was held to bless its 10th anniversary as well as provide an opportunity for former MPs and members to reaffirm their status. The party currently has about 150,000 members nationwide.

Big parties’ call for members to confirm their status at party offices will not be expensive, but for a smaller party like Chart Thai Pattana, the cost of the operation will be higher. 

Bhum Jai Tai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul (left) receives a bouquet from Chart Thai Pattana Party adviser Varawut Silpa-archa (right) yesterday

With about 25,000 current members, Chart Thai Pattana has chosen to have its volunteers canvass door to door at targeted members’ residences in their main area of support, asking them to fill in a letter of confirmation, including paying the Bt100 fee, party adviser Varawut Silpa-archa said.

That approach will be used to target members in Suphan Buri, the party’s stronghold, where Varawut said he expected to get confirmation from all 4,000 members in the province.

For members in other areas, Varawut said Chart Thai Pattana would send letters by the mail, incurring high postal expenses.

The party has not figured out how members receiving the letter will pay the membership fee. The party will also be responsible for high costs incurred in sending receipts or other evidence of payments, Varawut added. The approach could cost the party Bt500,000 in total, he added.

“Simply speaking, from the Bt100 fee, we may get only Bt5 to Bt20 after deducting the operational costs,” he said.

The burden remains to convince members to pay the Bt100 fee as well as institute a workable mechanism for paying it, Varawut said, adding that especially for people living in provinces, Bt100 would be a considerable expense.

Such methods use new technology to transfer money on the Internet or mobile banking, which could be a barrier for some party supporters. Varawut said he was concerned that most of his party’s supporters lived in the provinces and would find it too inconvenient to go to banks or lacked smartphones to transfer money via PromptPay.

The Democrat Party recently launched a new mobile phone application that allows existing members to confirm their membership electronically, including transferring the membership fees through banks. However, the EC has yet to allow the use of the app.

Insights from a new book on the history of legal philosophy may prove helpful for people pondering potential solutions to the country’s prolonged political conflict and the highly sensitive lese majeste law.

“Prawatisart Kwamkid Nitipratchaya”, which can be translated as “The History of Legal Philosophy”, written by well-known legal academic Worachet Pakeerat, has come out at the right time.

The time is right because Thailand is in the process of transition from junta rule to an elected government, which is expected to be formed after general elections early next year.

Many people have blamed the Thai judicial system for facilitating the repeated military coups and it is equally a part of today’s deep political conflicts.

Many are intrigued why Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha continues to exercise the absolute power he enjoys under Article 44 of the interim constitution when there is a new Constitution already in place.

And many are also wondering whether Prayut could use his power under Article 44 even after the election, before a new government is sworn in.

Worachet’s book does not directly dwell on the current legal issues in Thailand, but readers might find answers in the book by applying its knowledge of legal philosophy to answer current or future issues.

And yes, during the book launch, the author did say that Prayut could continue to wield such broad powers.

More than that, readers will find themselves taken into the past, from the times of ancient Greece.

The book explains why Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers in ancient Greece, accepted the death penalty and turned down a chance to flee.

The dramatic event led to one of the key questions of legal philosophy regarding respecting the law and the principle of a court verdict.

The book also looks at the personal lives and ideas of many philosophers of law, including Gustav Radbruch, who was a well-known German legal philosopher in the 20th century and also Germany’s minister of justice during the early Weimar period.

German judges adopted the so-called Radbruch Formula to back their verdicts regarding unjust laws enforced during the Nazi era and unjust laws in the former East Germany before the unification of East and West Germany.

The Radbruch Formula in simple language states that laws may be unjust but they are legally binding, and that judges have to apply them. However, if those laws are “unbearably unjust”, then they are null and void and judges should not apply them.

German judges did not apply unjust laws enforced during the Adolf Hitler era to disputes that occurred during Nazi rule, but were brought to court after the end of World War II.

After German unification, the German court punished former eastern German soldiers who had shot dead those who tried to climb over the Berlin Wall to escape the communist state. The court dismissed the defence that their actions were in line with East German law so they were protected by those laws.

After reading about life and law theory, readers might wonder whether Thai judges one day will adopt such a theory and question some laws that have been a source of human rights abuses.

The lese majeste law is one, as many scholars argue that it has been used as a weapon to attack political opponents.

Worachet is a member of the Nitirat group, which previously campaigned for the amendment of Article 112 of the Penal Code, or lese majeste law, and has been the target of heavy criticism by conservatives for his stance on the issue.

His 500-page work may create a better understanding of the modern legal system and open wider debate on the merits and demerits of the Thai legal and judicial system.

While the Democrat Party, many of whose former MPs joined the whistle-blowing protests that preceded the 2014 coup, held firm that it would not support Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha remaining in office after the election, the Bhumjaithai Party was reluctant to make its position clear.

“Party members would have to support the party’s leader, whoever he or she will be. Those wanting to support Prayut should choose the other way and not come here. There are many parties that would endorse such support,” Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

Abhisit, however, did not rule out his party supporting any military representatives in the next elected government.

“We would have to see how the military would enter [politics] and how many votes they would have [in the parliament],” he said.

According to the junta-written 2017 charter, the Upper and Lower Houses would jointly nominate the prime minister, who could be an “outsider”, if MPs could not agree over a list of three candidates for the top job.

Given the charter-invented mixed-member apportionment electoral system, it is very likely that the majority of MPs will be from diverse medium-sized and small parties, and the major parties will have a hard time to gain a parliamentary majority.

Senators will not only be wholly handpicked by the junta, but some of the seats in the Senate will be reserved for top-ranking military officers.

Political observers have said that such a scenario would weaken the power of the major parties while empowering the military in post-election politics.

The Democrat Party’s headquarters in Bangkok yesterday was buzzing with hundreds of former MPs and supporters visiting to reaffirm their memberships.

More than 1,300 members were reaffirmed yesterday, a small number compared to the 2.5 million members nationwide who, in order to maintain its status, the party must reaffirm by the end of this month.

Abhisit also took the chance yesterday to announce the party’s agenda in what he called “the new era”.

Its new agenda would include more democratic processes at party level, including direct election of the party’s leaders via a mobile application.

“We’ll raise funds from members as much as possible and have branches covering all local areas. The party will belong to the people, not a few politicians with various and independent sources of income,” he said.

The event was also attended by Akanat Promphan, a former Democrat Party MP who works closely with his stepfather, Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the whistle-blowing People’s Democratic Reform Foundation (PDRF).

Akanat, whose membership of the party ended when he joined the monkhood in 2014, confirmed that he and the PDRF members would have no problem working with the Democrat Party, despite Suthep’s support for Prayut.

“We won’t have a condition of support for Prayut. I affirm to stay with the party and continue with our will to reform and make the party truly belong to the people,” Akanat said.

Meanwhile, Bhum Jai Thai Party yesterday held a merit-making ceremony to bless its 10th anniversary and to start the reaffirmation of its members.

Leader Anutin Charnvirakul said his party was ready to work within the current constitution and avoid any action that would create “further hurdles” for the country.

“We don’t believe prosperity can be brought about by conflicts. We view that every side has to respect the rules and the majority,” he said.

He did not rule out his party cooperating with the military blocs or even supporting Prayut remaining in the premiership.

“We will join with any party with the same ideology for the country’s peace and security,” he said.

“However, we don’t need to say anything to bind ourselves now.” 

 Bhum Jai Thai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul receives a blessing from guests to the party’s merit making ceremony yesterday

Those named in the complaint included Kan Pongpraphapan, Sirawith Seritiwat, Rangsiman Rome, Nattha Mahuttana, Ekachai Hongkanwan and Anon Nampa.

The complaint was made by Colonel Burin Thongprapai, a member of the NCPO’s legal department.

It was in response to last week’s demonstration in which protesters called for the army to stop supporting the NCPO as they marched from the Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus to the Royal Thai Army headquarters.

Most of the named demonstration leaders have been previously charged with several offences related to a series of protests calling for an election to be held this year.

Police officers reportedly were also mulling whether to charge the protesters for using amplifiers, resisting an officer’s orders, and assaulting officers. The latter relates to demonstrators breaking through officers lining up to block them from marching on the Army headquarters, resulting in a brief clash.