POLITICIANS yesterday claimed their right to propose policies to the voters, in a strong response to the Army chief’s aggressive reaction on Monday over proposals to cut the defence budget.

Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong had said on Monday that politicians who proposed to cut the defence budget should listen to the ultra-patriotic song, “Nak Paendin” (worthless).

Politicians from key parties hit back yesterday, saying they had the right to present their policies to voters, and also advised the general to remain politically neutral.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that all political parties were entitled to propose any policies, including those that affected the Army, pointing out that proposing policies was normal and should not lead to conflicts.

He added that his party too was approaching voters with proposals, such as making conscription on a voluntary basis, and that the defence budget be reduced.

As for the Army chief’s invocation of the propagandist anthem, which could potentially incite hatred and violence against Army critics, Abhisit said the general, as a state servant, should remain non-partisan.

He also advised Apirat to make his case if he feels his agency is affected by the proposals. Abhisit said everybody should just do their jobs.

Veteran politician Chaturon Chaisang, a key leader of Thai Raksa Chart Party, echoed Abhisit, saying it was not in the ambit of the Army chief’s duty to voice opposition to the policies of political parties.

“He has no right to say that,” Chaturon said, referring to Apirat’s remarks urging politicians to listen to “Nak Paendin”.

“This reaction only shows that he is not non-partisan and such remarks are completely unlawful.”

The servants of the state are obliged to remain politically neutral and this is especially important in the lead-up to the election, he added. Apart from not being neutral, Chaturon said the general’s reaction demonstrated his ignorance of the relationship between politics, the government and state agencies.

“While campaigning for votes, political parties have the right to propose policies about adjusting the budgets of different agencies,” Chaturon said. “However, these agencies cannot oppose these policies. If the party wins, then it has the mandate to carry out these policies. The Army chief has to respect that.”

Overhaul necessary

Other politicians and critics said the general’s response only showed that the Army was in need of an overhaul.

Spokesperson of Future Forward Party Pannika Wanich said the Army had to remain neutral, yet in many cases the reality was otherwise.

“It is clear that they are abusing their power to add pressure or even interfere in politics,” she said. “The worst they can do is launch another coup to seize power. This is exactly why the Army needs to be reformed.”

Lt-General Pongsakorn Rodchom-phoo, Future Forward’s deputy leader, said the party had proposed that the Army should be led by joint chiefs of staff and be reduced in size, which will not only boost cost efficiency, but also prioritise quality over quantity.

Meanwhile, security expert Wanwichit Boonprong told The Nation yesterday that changing the chain of command was a feasible option for Thailand as it would reduce the power of the Army.

Under this system, he said, there will only be one supreme commander, known as the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, who will report directly to the head of the government. The commander will only play a supporting role and will have no right to provide any political inputs, he added.

ANGRY WITH politicians proposing a cut in the defence budget, Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong ordered the ultra-rightist song “Nak Phaendin” to be aired every day on 160 Army radio stations across the country, but later withdrew the order.

The song, also played within military camps and the Army headquarters, was to air twice every day – at 7am and noon – before Apirat had a change of mind. The song is played at all Army barracks during lunchtime. The Army chief reasoned earlier that the anthem broadcast was aimed at encouraging everyone to be aware of their duties and responsibilities towards the country.

“All this time, some people have been critical and distorting the truth to create misunderstanding about the work of the government and the Army. So, all units should clarify it using the media in its hands,” Apirat said.

The order was issued yesterday almost immediately after Army top brass told politicians, including Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan from Pheu Thai Party, who are proposing a reduction in the defence budget as one of their policy planks, to listen to the song.

Several political parties during the electoral campaign have floated policies that affect the military. While the Army may have been strengthened in the past five years under the military-installed government, it also lost popularity with rising negative public sentiment over an increased Defence budget and the controversial military conscription.

The song, titled “Nak Phaendin”, means “burden to the country” and says one who is “worthless” or an “enemy of the nation” should be eliminated. The song was composed in 1975 by an Army officer and was part of the grand propaganda used against the communist movement in Thailand.

The song features lyrics that condemn any act of treason, including ungratefulness to the monarchy, instigating conflict among Thais and treachery.

In the notorious student massacre on October 6, 1976 at Thammasat University, “Nak Phaendin” was frequently played to justify the crackdown as well as to boost the courage of right-wingers who had engaged in elimination of the alleged threat. Top Army members and leaders of the ruling junta yesterday also appeared protective of the Army’s interests in opposing the policy proposal to reduce the defence budget.

Junta chief and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday warned politicians to be mindful of their language during the electoral campaign. If they did not consider reality and the national interest, they would have to take responsibility for their actions one day.

General Prayut, who toppled an elected government in the 2014 coup and is now a premiership candidate of the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party, stressed that the Army had made enormous contributions to the country. Besides protecting the national sovereignty, they had also played a role in other areas such as disaster relief and drugs control, he said.

Junta No 2 and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said briefly but firmly: “Listen to the song that the Army chief mentioned. Listen to it.”

Two social science experts voiced concerns yesterday, suggesting that the invocation of the anthem pointed to a perilous situation.

Paul Chambers, an expert on military affairs and a lecturer at Naresuan University, told The Nation yesterday that the Army chief’s allusion to the song is extremely dangerous if he was suggesting that those politicians were an enemy of the state or was threatening to stage another coup.

Anusorn Unno, dean of Thammasat University’s Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, said that Apirat was trying to distract the public from criticism about the size of the Army’s budget and the conscription programme.

“By mentioning this song, General Apirat conveniently turns critics of the Army into enemies of the state,” the expert said. “But we have to be clear that the Army is just a state apparatus to protect sovereignty. The Army is not the state itself. It has to be accountable.”

Anusorn said what the Army chief was doing was dangerous. Indirectly calling Army critics “Nak Phaendin” is tantamount to inciting hatred, which should be the last thing he wants given the fact that the country is already plagued with political division, the expert said.

Retired national police chief Sereepisut Temeyaves, who heads the Seree Ruam Thai Party, said that Palang Pracharat’s candidate, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, was a coup leader who had become premier.

General Prayut had also ordered the cancellation of the 2007 Constitution and then the rewriting of the new one, he said.

“These [acts] clearly showed that Palang Pracharat’s candidate is against the democratic system, and the party has [therefore] violated the election laws,” Sereepisut said.

He was speaking after submitting a petition to the EC, seeking disbandment of the party.

Sereepisut claimed that the nomination of Prayut was clearly more against the election law than the case of the embattled Thai Raksa Chart Party, which is facing dissolution after nominating Princess Ubolratana as its premier candidate on February 8.

The EC recommended on February 11 that the Constitutional Court rule to dissolve Thai Raksa Chart, and the court allowed the party seven days to submit its defence.

Sereepisut’s petition is the second that the electoral agency has received concerning Palang Pracharat, the first having been submitted last week by Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a party-list MP candidate for Thai Raksa Chart.

Ruangkrai on Monday repeated his call for the EC to ask the court to dissolve Palang Pracharat Chart, arguing that the agency should not practise double standards.

Besides the party nominating Prayut, a coup leader, as its prime minister candidate, Uttama Sawanayon registered the formation of Palang Pracharat before he had applied for membership of the party, Ruangkrai added.

Another issue concerned Palang Pracharat’s hosting of a Chinese banquet last year, which he said had clearly violated a 2017 organic law concerning activities by political parties.

Ruangkrai insisted he was not worried about his own party, because he believed it would not be disbanded.

Suriyan Hongwilai said the cases were now being considered in the Election Division of the Supreme Court.

Although it was the weekend, the Supreme Court’s offices had been on standby to receive the petitions, the spokesman added.

Some of the petitions were filed by potential candidates of parties that had failed to set up branches in some provinces, as required by the Political Parties Act.

Other petitioners had been either members of their parties for less than 90 days or not a member of the party that they hoped to contest the election for, while some were members of more than one party, Suriyan explained.

The Supreme Court has prepared personnel and undertaken training in advance about the electoral laws in order to consider their petitions, he said.

It is reported that the court will spend only a few days considering the petitions, as the national election is fast approaching in March.

Other hopefuls whose candidacy has not been approved by the electoral agency have until this Friday to file petitions with the Supreme Court.

It is not yet clear how many candidates were not registered by the EC.

Last week, the EC announced that 107 out of 2,917 potential candidates under the party-list system had not been approved.

However, it did not reveal details concerning potential constituency MPs, as it is the duty of the electoral authority in each constituency to decide on whether candidates meet the set criteria.

Here are the new rules under the current Constitution that everybody should know about:

Mixed-Member Apportionment (MMA) electoral system

There are 350 constituency seats and 150 party-list seats up for grabs this election. Voters will cast a single ballot for a constituency candidate that will also count as a vote for that candidate’s party and be tallied in apportioning party-list seats.

The total number of votes a party receives will determine the total number seats it gains in Parliament in a combination of constituency seats and party-list seats.

Same party different number

Candidates from the same party will not run under the same number. Since it is a single-ballot electoral system, each candidate will have his or her own number. Voters can memorise the number of their preferred constituency candidate. The poll ballot will show the numbers of each candidate, along with their party names and logos.

Prime minister candidate list

The next prime minister may not necessarily come from among the elected MPs, but they must be nominated as candidates and be in the PM nomination list from political parties. Each party can submit up to three names to the Election Commission.

Voters cannot directly cast a ballot for their favoured PM candidate, as the premier will only be chosen jointly by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Voting for a PM

The 250 senators handpicked by the National Council for Peace and Order will join the 350 members of the House of Representatives to choose the next PM from lists submitted by parties that have won at least 5 per cent of the Lower House. The prospective premier needs at least 376 votes.

Outsider or non-list PM

If the joint meeting fails to pick a PM, more than half of the members of both Houses – or 376 – can submit a joint petition to the Parliament’s president requesting that the assembly pass a resolution exempting them from being limited to party lists in choosing a PM.

To pass the exemption, it needs at least two-thirds of the total number of members present in both Houses – or 500 votes.

An “outsider”, who is not on a party list, will be eligible to become the next PM if 376 votes can be garnered from both Houses.

‘Vote No’ 

Although the “vote no” option is not new to Thai voters, it will be a meaningful and powerful weapon during this election.

If the “vote no” casts are higher than the number of votes won by the winner in a constituency, a new round of voting is required. All votes in that constituency will be nullified and candidates barred from running again in the new election.

Poll watch

As many as 413 election inspectors in 77 provinces will be in charge of monitoring officers or staff in each polling unit, along with investigating actions deemed to be fraudulent or violating election laws. They will submit their findings to the Election Commission (EC). These inspectors were appointed by the EC to replace the provincial election commissioners.

Ballot casting time 

Voters will have more time to cast their ballot, as polling booths will be open from 8am to 5pm, two hours longer than previous elections.

Helping hand

The elderly and disabled will be allowed to take their relative, trusted person or an officer to the polling booth to help cast their ballot for them.

Special power

The election will be held under a junta government that retained special powers under Article 44 of the post-coup interim charter and is also guaranteed under the current Constitution. Hence, NCPO chief Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha is eligible to issue any order under this power, including nullifying or cancelling the election in the event of an unexpected incidence.

The poll, conducted on 1,054 people from February 10 to 16, showed that more than a quarter of the respondents, or 25.6 per cent, described their preferred PM candidate in those terms, adding that the candidate could have helped pushed the country through the previous economic crisis while keeping a low profile.

About 22.8 per cent of respondents said they prefer as PM a man who is about 40 years old, with a background as a political activist as well as an executive of a private company.

The third most-preferred choice – by nearly 14 per cent – is a man in his 60s with a background in the Army and politics.

The descriptions may fit Anutin Charnvirakul, nominated for PM by Bhumjaithai, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit by Future Forward, and General Prayut Chan-o-cha by Phalang Pracharat.

The same poll also revealed that nearly three-quarters of the people, or 72.4 per cent, said they would definitely turn up to exercise their voting rights. The rest, 27.6 per cent, said they were not sure if they would vote.

The majority (72.5) said they were concerned about political turmoil during the run-up to the election. More than a half – 56.2 per cent – said they followed the news regularly. About one-third or 36.6 per cent, said they hardly did so while 7.2 per cent said they completely ignored political developments.

Another survey by Suan Dusit Poll, conducted on 1,186 people from February 12 to 16, revealed that the majority of people (54.68 per cent) ranked the March-24 election as the number one political news they were interested in.

They reasoned that it was because the voting day was fast approaching and also because it was a hot issue that would have a great impact on the direction of politics in the country.

The second news that the respondents said they were paying attention to were the legal actions by the courts involving politics, including the Constitutional Court. More than 30 per cent said they were interested in the party-dissolution case as well as the case against protest leaders and the recent order to shut down the controversial news station, Voice TV.

The third most-followed news stories were about the prime ministerial candidates. Some 21.04 per cent said this was a crucial position in politics. They wanted to know who would become the PM and would like to hear his or her vision and policy proposals in televised debates.

The last two stories voters were interested in were about new candidates and political parties (19.87 per cent) and the electoral campaigns (15.29 per cent).

The majority of the poll respondents (39.49 per cent) also expressed concern over poll fraud. And 31.98 per cent said they were worried about another coup.

Some 35.44 per cent said they would try to find out more information about the proposed policies and candidates before going to vote.

Nearly a quarter, 24.56 per cent, said the news stories would have no influence on their decision. They had already made up their minds on which party they would vote for.

Of 2,917 individuals who applied, 107 were disqualified for reasons including being members of their parties for too short a time and being members of more than one party.

Sixty-eight people from 44 parties qualified to stand as candidates for the office of prime minister.

Two other hopefuls were disqualified, one having spent time in prison, the other having a substandard level of education. They were in addition to Princess Ubolratana, whose bid was withdrawn on Monday.

The names of constituency candidates were also announced yesterday, but in their own constituencies. The EC said voters could find the lists already posted in designated polling stations and on the “SMART VOTE” mobile application. The app would also be updating information as necessary, it said.

Would-be candidates who were disqualified are entitled to petition the Supreme Court within seven days.

Anyone who maintains that listed MP candidates are unqualified can appeal to the EC in the same timeframe.

Candidates put forward by the embattled Thai Raksa Chart were certified as qualified despite a pending lawsuit that could result in the party’s dissolution.

The party announced yesterday its executive members would refrain from campaigning for now and instead focus on fighting the case coming before the Constitutional Court.

Party secretary-general Mitti Tiyapairat said the aim was also to “avoid any complications” that could arise.

Party spokesman Pongkasem Satayaprasert added that its constituency candidates deemed qualified by the EC were now free to begin campaigning in earnest. There was no court prohibition against their doing so, he said.

Pro-red shirt lawyer Winyat Chatmontree has meanwhile petitioned the EC to consider disbanding the Phalang Pracharat Party, whose founding, he alleged, had outside influence.

Winyat accused the party of being influenced by junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha when it was founded late last year.

He also asked the commission to disqualify Prayut as a candidate for the post-election premiership because he is the incumbent premier and head of the National Council for Peace and Order and thus a state agent, and as such is legally prohibited from seeking any ministerial post.

Winyat urged the EC against applying a double standard, noting that it took less than a week to rule on a petition to dissolve Thai Raksa Chart and should be just as quick in considering his complaint.

If it was tardy in making a decision, the lawyer warned, the commissioners could be accused of being negligent in their duty.

Princess Ubolratana’s candidacy for premier for a party aligned with billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, appeared to have kicked over a totem of Thai politics: that the military alone is the unassailable partner of the monarchy.

Minutes later Prayut, a former army chief who seized power in 2014, accepted the nomination for prime minister by a junta-linked party, threatening to put him on an electoral collision course with a royal.

In a country where the public rarely gets a read on the backroom power plays of the elite, much of Thai social media erupted in glee at the supposed fall from favour of the gruff, hectoring junta chief.

    Rumours of an impending coup against Prayut and his junta spun out.

But hours later the political game turned on its head.

An official of Raksa Chart party submitting the registration document of Thai Princess Ubolratana bearing her photograph to election commission officials in Bangkok on February 8, 2019. /Photo by Chin CHOMDEE / THAI NEWS PIX / AFP

Ubolratana’s younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, blocked her “highly inappropriate” move into frontline politics with a rare statement publically exposing divisions inside the palace.

The Thaksin-aligned Thai Raksa Chart party which proposed her is now on a fast-track to dissolution by the courts for “hostile action to the constitutional monarchy”, threatening to take with it the electoral aspirations of the Shinawatra camp.

That has left Prayut still very much in power — and closer than ever to becoming prime minister after the March 24 poll.

“I ask everyone to keep smiling,” Prayut said on Thursday as he attended an emergency exercise at Special Forces command base in Lopburi, central Thailand.

Earlier he paid homage to a towering portrait of the king. Throughout the day he was accompanied by army chief Apirat Kongsompong — the new top military man appointed by the king.

– Prayut still standing –

After nearly five years in power the 64-year-old Prayut, still draws loyalty from many arch-royalists for his anti-Thaksin stance.

He toppled the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s younger sister.

Since then he has tried — with mixed results — to expunge the clan’s influence from Thai politics, where the siblings remain vastly popular among the poor despite both being in self-exile to avoid jail terms.

But Prayut also draws derision from large sections of a public wearied by his choleric temper, finger-jabbing televised addresses and a political system rigged to secure the army’s stake in politics.

Yet, still standing after the spin-dryer events of the last week, Prayut loyalists say his bid for premier is in robust shape.

“The events from last week have proved he has still the confidence of the king,” a senior army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“He seems confident in his chances of winning and the latest events prove he is probably right.”

Those chances are bolstered by a junta-scripted constitution that creates a fully appointed upper house and limits the number of seats available for the Shinawatra’s main electoral vehicle – Pheu Thai.

In the event of a hung parliament, it also allows for a premier from a minority party to be installed — which appears to be Prayut’s main route to the premiership.

Given the assumed loyalty of the junta-selected upper house, “Prayut only needs 126 seats (out of 500) in the lower house to win,” Paul Chambers of the Center for ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University told AFP.

“It is not a level and fair playing field,” he added.

As the princess’s political play sent a wave of uncertainty across the kingdom, Prayut was prodded Monday into denying rumours of an impending coup as “fake news.”

It was a view endorsed by some of the country’s 76 governors who gathered to greet him on Thursday.

“I don’t believe there will be a coup. We don’t need that,” Kiatisak Chantra, governor of northeastern Maha Sarakham province told AFP.

Thai women walk past an electoral poster with a portrait of Thai Raksa Chart Party’s leader Preechapol Pongpanich (L) and its party’s member Chaturon Chaisang (R) in Bangkok, 15 February 2019. /EPA-EFE

For Thaksin’s parties, the road to power now looks long and difficult.

Thai Raksa Chart was meant to secure secondary votes for the party list and join the bloc of constituency seats Pheu Thai expects to mop up in its north and northeastern heartlands.

“Thaksin made a tactical error,” says Sophie Boisseau du Rocher, a Thai politics expert at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

“Thai Raksa Chart will probably be dissolved, it will not be able to support Pheu Thai … Thaksin is gradually losing his aura.”