WITH THE general election fast approaching, the military-backed government yesterday announced an assistance package for the poor worth Bt38.73 billion under the Pracharat Welfare for Grassroots Economy Fund to subsidise 14.5 million holders of the state welfare card, starting from December until September next year.

The move coming just months ahead of the elections raised questions on whether the junta was exploiting the state budget to boost its popularity. The doubts were only magnified as some Cabinet members have joined the Palang Pracharat Party, whose name coincides with the junta’s major populist scheme.

Junta chief Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday rejected the accusation, saying the government just does its job and deals with different issues on a day-to-day basis.

“I don’t want the media to say that this government just gives people money for political purposes,” Prayut said yesterday, after the Cabinet meeting gave the green light for the subsidy package. “Everything has been done according to the laws. It’s just a coincidence that it has been finalised now. Just don’t make everything about politics.”

Responding to questions from the media, Government Spokesman Puttipong Punnakanta yesterday said the projects had not materalised overnight.

He explained that they had undergone a long process of scrutiny and come to fruition yesterday, reiterating it had nothing to do with the upcoming election or attempts to boost the junta’s popularity.

The junta government yesterday agreed to inject money into the grassroots economy through the Pracharat scheme. All holders of the state welfare card will receive a one-time extra amount of Bt500 in cash obtained via the card to spend on anything next month, estimated to cost Bt7.25 billion. The government spokesman said that it could be regarded as a New Year’s gift to the people.

Amid questions on why the government had embarked on a spending spree, handing out Bt7.25 billion for almost nothing, Puttipong said it was partly aimed at relieving the people’s burden. The government viewed that this Bt500 could help state welfare cardholders to some extent during the new-year season when they might have more expenses than normal, he said.

In addition, from next month until September next year, the cardholders would also get a utility bill subsidy.

Those who spend less than Bt230 and Bt100 on electricity and water respectively would be eligible for the subsidy.

The amount they pay towards the utility bills would be returned to them as credit in the card. The amount could be used for purchases in Pracharat stores.

For the elderly, the government next month plans to hand out one-time extra cash of Bt1,000 to cardholders aged above 65. The amount is supposedly aimed at helping with commuting expenses of senior citizens who often need to visit hospitals, according to the spokesman. Cardholders aged above 60 and paying rent for their houses will be reimbursed Bt400 from next month until September next year.

All these measures to boost the grassroots economy would cost Bt38.73 billion for the Pracharat Welfare for Grassroots Economy Fund. The fund currently has a reserve of Bt55 billion, according to the government.

Of the country’s nearly 70-million population, more than 14 million people have signed up as low-income earners and are getting subsidy from this fund. The new package for the poor would enhance the country’s economic growth rate to 0.07 per cent, according to the National Economic and Social Development Board.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said that more measures to stimulate the economy were underway. The Finance Ministry was currently working on a tax scheme to offer incentives to consumers to shop more during the New Year season, he said.

Other measures include debt restructuring by the Government Savings Bank to help working people as well as a special taxi instalment scheme for taxi drivers by SME Bank, he said. Taxi drivers can pay an instalment of Bt300 a day for seven years. A similar measure for motorcycle taxi drivers is also a possibility, the deputy PM said.

“Politicians have to find a way to make things work in this parliamentary system,” Phumtham said. “[We] understand that they have to leave, so no hard feelings.”

The new election process included in the junta-driven Constitution is expected to cost larger political parties their party-list MPs, which is why politicians are shifting to other parties as they see fit.

Although the secretary-general claimed to be dismayed by the change, he remained confident that Pheu Thai would come first in the upcoming election. Voters put more trust in the party’s policy direction than in individual members, he said.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai’s former party-list MP Chaturon yesterday bid farewell to his colleagues after deciding to join its sister party Thai Raksa Chart.

Amid rumours that the shift was due to an internal conflict over leadership, Chaturon insisted his decision did not stem from any conflicts or dissatisfaction. Rather, he said, it was the current political circumstances that forced him to leave.

Apart from Chaturon, several other Pheu Thai politicians have shifted to Thai Raksa Chart, including Pichai Nariptaphan, Anuttama Amornwiwat and Kusumalawati Sirikomut.

Getting experienced politicians to join related parties is also seen as a response to the potential dissolution of Pheu Thai, which is under scrutiny over its alleged relations with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Constitution prohibits any outside influence over local political parties, and if found guilty, it could face dissolution and executives subsequently banned from politics.

Also if the party is dissolved close to the election, the MP candidates may not have enough time to join new parties and run in the election.

In fact, even before the junta issued the order last week, it was said that the EC had already completed the job. Concerns over gerrymandering subsequently arose with critics accusing the National Council for Peace and Order of attempting to tamper with the boundaries.

The agency responded to this by saying it was not redrawing any constituencies to favour any particular group. The public |participation cited in the junta order was part of the process, but the core of the process remained consistent with the law, EC’s deputy secretary-general Nat Laosisavakul said.

After the order was issued, giving the EC extra time to hear public opinions, the agency will accept complaints and |opinions until Sunday. The matter should be finalised by November 30 before it is |published in the Royal Gazette.

“The participation process will not be prolonged any longer, or questions about when exactly the election will take place would follow,” the official said.

“The EC does not have to consider whether everyone is satisfied. After all, there are winners and losers. The agency only has to respect the law. And we won’t risk the EC’s credibility or go against the law just to entertain some particular people.”

Petitioners are advised to identify |themselves, provide their address, as well as state clearly how the constituency should be drawn according to law, Nat said.

The agency is ready to disclose the |number of complaints, but not the personal information of complainants, he said.

It has been feared that the junta might exploit this channel to ensure constituencies are drawn in a manner that it finds |beneficial.

This will not affect the primary voting, Nat said, noting that voting normally took a week to complete. Meanwhile, political parties were free to recruit members in the provinces so they can set up branches before the primary voting is conducted, the |official added.

However, EC president Ittiporn Boonpracong admitted yesterday that |constituency-drawing has been running a little behind the planned schedule, but that was due to his personal health issues.

The boundary redrawing had been |completed almost two weeks ago and the results should have been published in the Royal Gazette by November 10, but that has been delayed because he had to undergo eye surgery, Ittiporn said. He added that the EC has always followed the law, and never favoured the powers that be.

They also raised concerns over whether the junta’s Article 44 order authorising the EC to make changes to constituency boundaries would favour some political parties.

The concerns were raised in response to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha invoking Article 44 last week as head of the junta to empower the EC to make changes to constituency boundaries, examine complaints and revise the boundaries if necessary.

The EC had already finished redrawing the constituencies and was about to submit them for publication in the Royal Gazette, but the order halted the process.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Open Forum for Democracy Foundation (P-NET), a non-governmental organisation focused on the electoral process, called the order via Article 44 an exercise of state power that interferes with an independent agency. It could lead to the unfair drawing of constituency boundaries, the group said.

“It’s likely that pro-junta parties could gain an advantage from the order and that could lead to denial of the poll result by voters,” it warned.

Former Pheu Thai MP Korkaew Pikulthong wondered whether the order had been invoked to benefit some political parties and make it difficult for Pheu Thai to register candidates in the coming election.

“I believe more orders [via Article 44] will be issued to pave the way for the junta to retain power. The powers-that-be will make an all-out effort to win the election,” said Korkaew, a key red-shirt leader.

The junta order allows parties to recruit MP candidates until the first day of registration for the election.

Red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan also voiced concern, noting that previous charters stipulated that MP candidates must become party members at least 90 days before an election to bar “political prostitutes”.

“I cannot interpret the order in any other way,” he said. “It can only mean that politicians can sell themselves until the registration day.”

Meanwhile, the newly formed pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party yesterday vowed to win up to 150 MP seats in the election after merging with the Sam Mit (Three Friends) group.

The group led by veteran politicians Suriya Jungrungreangkit and Somsak Thepsuthin yesterday brought about 60 former MPs and former local politicians to apply for membership in Palang Pracharat.

The “Three Friends” group includes several former strongmen and ex-ministers from the Pheu Thai and Thai Rak Thai ranks.

Among them are Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, the former Natural Resources and Environment minister; Santi Prompat, former Social Development and Human Security minister; Pansiri Kulanartsiri, former deputy Health Minister; Pinyo Niroj, former PM’s Office minister; and Chamlong Krutkhuntod, former deputy Education minister.

Suriya said a respected senior person with whom he had worked in the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party had invited him to join Palang Pracharat.

“He told me that a new party is needed as an alternative for voters so that the country can tide over past conflicts and resolve the political crisis,” Suriya said, without identifying the person.

“I’m confident that we will win at least 150 seats for sure, judging from my experience and several surveys,” Suriya added.

Suriya also announced the dissolution of his group once it merges with the new party.

It is widely believed that Palang Pracharat was founded to help Prayut retain the premiership after the next election, although the PM has not yet said which party he would join.

The party has four of Prayut’s Cabinet members as key figures: Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana is party leader, Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong is secretary-general, Science Minister Suvit Maesincee is deputy leader and PM’s Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool is the party’s spokesman.

Joining Chaturon are Virakarn Musikapong, Nattawut Saikua, Korkaew Pikulthong and Weng Tojirakarn, who are said to be ready to apply today for membership in Thai Raksa Chart.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were leaving Pheu Thai because new election arrangements could leave it with fewer-than-expected seats in the Lower House.

If Pheu Thai wins a large number of constituencies in the election currently scheduled for February 24, it might have no seats available for party-list MPs. That is prompting some former Pheu Thai party-list MPs to migrate to other parties in the hope of securing places in Parliament.

Thai Raksa Chart, seen as a sister party to Pheu Thai, has introduced as members and executives several “heirs” to politicians from the Shinawatra camp.

The party yesterday welcomed new members including former golf hero Thongchai Jaidee and former beauty queen Nahathai Lekbumrung.

Thongchai, who applied for party membership yesterday, said he wanted to participate in politics and would later discuss his role with its executives.

The group led by veteran politicians Suriya Jungrungreangkit and Somsak Thepsuthin on Sunday brought around 60 former MPs and former local politicians to apply for party membership of Palang Pracharat Party at the party’s general assembly.

The “Three Friends” group includes several former strongmen from the Pheu Thai and Thai Rak Thai ranks.

Suriya said he was invited by a respected senior person with whom he had worked in the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party to join Palang Pracharat.

“He told me that a new party is needed [to be founded] as an alternative for voters so that the country could tide over past conflicts and resolve the political crisis,” Suriya said, without elaborating who that person was.

It is widely believed that Palang Pracharat Party has been formed to enable Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to return as premier after the next election.

Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana is the party leader and Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong is secretary-general.

Suriya also announced the dissolution of his group after joining the new party.

The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases endorsed a Department of Special Investigation (DSI) request for arrest warrants on Monday after Kanchanapa Honghern and her husband Wanchai were found to have left the country, DSI director-general Paisit Wongmuang said yesterday.

He said the couple had been summoned by public prosecutors to hear a decision whether to indict them on October 31 but they failed to show up on that day.

Public prosecutors then asked the DSI to find the two suspects for legal prosecution. Authorities later found that the couple left for Hong Kong on October 5.

Paisit said the DSI would track down the current whereabouts of the couple. It would then be the duty of the Attorney General’s Office to request their extradition from the country involved, he added.

Kanchanapa, previously the personal secretary of Panthongtae’s mother Khunying Pojaman Na Pombejra, and Wanchai were charged along with Panthongtae with money laundering for receiving cheques in connection with the Krungthai Bank loan scandal.

On October 10, Panthongtae was indicted for obtaining a cheque for Bt10 million that was part of Bt10 billion in loans that the property group, Krisada Mahanakorn, had obtained dishonestly from the state-run bank when his father was serving as prime minister.