Anupong issued the order on October 11 that was published in the Royal Gazette on Friday.

The order stated that the council was dissolved in accordance with the recommendation of the Ubon Ratchathani governor.

The order said the council obstructed developments in the Muang district of Ubon Ratchathani, which is a large city in the Northeast, by not approving the use of an accumulated left-over budget and not approving the municipality’s request to allocate a special development budget.

Moreover, the council always reduced the municipality’s requested budget.

The interior minister said that the council stood in the way of tourism developments and projects that would benefit local people.

With the election getting closer the junta chief, whose popularity is declining, launched his personal social media assault on Saturday in a bid to reach out to people.

On his Facebook page, Prayut’s first post read: “Dear citizen, as a lot of people are now communicating via Facebook, I have opened my personal account to communicate with you on government policy, the government’s and my works. All suggestions and opinions are welcomed.”

The post prompted a fierce reaction from his supporters, along with non-fans such as ex-journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall, who posted a half-Prayut, half-Hitler face portrait along with a comment.

“I have some feedback,” wrote Marshall on Sunday, when the general asked for suggestions and an exchange of views on Facebook. “We want elections ASAP and a democratic prime minister.

Academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun posted his own picture with the caption, “I’m thirsty”, on Prayut’s page.

Thai politician Pichai Naripthaphan reacted to Prayut’s page simply by sharing a post from another account that compared Prayut’s two comments regarding social media. On March 5, 2018 Prayut had said his real happiness was not using Facebook, but just seven months later the premier said he was opening a personal Facebook page to reach out and communicate with people.

Criticism, satirical remarks and reprimands dominated the reactions to Prayut’s Facebook post.

Many called on him to step down, with some saying it was embarrassing for a soldier to topple a female-led government. Some wondered whether Prayut was using government resources to manage his website and social media.

Twitter @latenightdocto1, joined others by sarcastically advising the premier on how to ask for an increase in income taxes.

Some posted to Prayut’s Facebook page that they missed former premiers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra and many posted logos of the Future Forward Party.

As of press time, Prayut had 91,514 Facebook followers and had refrained from reacting to any comments.

Prayut made his first tweet yesterday with simple words greeting people, welcoming them to exchange views on government affairs as well as to invite them to visit his website at prayutchan-o-cha.com. He had hit 9,283 followers on Twitter by press time.

THE leadership race for the country’s oldest political party is fierce, with the two leading candidates – Abhisit Vejjajiva and Warong Dechgitvigrom – seemingly neck-and-neck as next month’s vote approaches, a top party figure said.

“The race is very close. I cannot predict who will win,” the source, who asked not to be named, told The Nation.

The Democrats will hold a primary vote on November 1-5, the first time ever that a Thai party has selected its leader with input from its members.

Many political observers believe incumbent leader Abhisit will easily win the contest against his main challenger, Warong. They point to Abhisit’s popularity and political experience. The third contender, former deputy leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot, is generally viewed as the weakest candidate.

But the confident prediction looks shaky when you take a closer look at the eligible voters.

Previously, around 250 party MPs and party branch chairmen were eligible to vote for the leader, making it not difficult to control the votes. Abhisit would have a strong chance being re-elected leader under this old voting system.

But under the primary vote, the number of eligible voters could reach up to 100,000 Democrat members nationwide, making it difficult to control the outcome.

“Most of those members belong to Warong’s camp. So, using a primary vote for party leader selection is risky for Abhisit,” the source said.

It is widely known that Warong is the nominee of former party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban. Suthep has failed to convince Abhisit and other Democrat party executives to declare support for coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha becoming prime minister.

Abhisit announced at the party’s 72nd anniversary celebrations that he would implement the primary vote for the next party leader. Suthep and his camp of former members of the now defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee [PDRC] who remained in the Democrat fold pounced on the opportunity to recruit Democrat voters. Among the camp was Thaworn Senneam, deputy leader and a former Songkhla MP, who quickly moved to ensure party members confirmed their membership status in April, said the source.

Political parties were allowed to approach existing members to confirm their membership status from April 1-30.

“The number of confirmed [members] is obviously high in some southern provinces,” the source said.

For example, some 15,000 members confirmed their status in each of Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces, along with 10,000 in Chumporn. All are political bases of the former PDRC members, he added.

“Let’s say around 50 per cent of the total 81,000 eligible voters are members recruited from Warong-backed camp. That would weaken Abhisit’s prospects,” he said.

“This primary vote is not about popularity but a game of numbers. Whoever wins the most votes will be the winner,” he added.

So, crucial to the outcome will be whichever side recruits the greatest number of new members to apply for the right to vote within today’s deadline.

Although 2.5 million previous Democrat members who have failed to confirm their membership can still apply, the source said it was difficult to reconnect with them.

However, another party source said Abhisit retains an advantage since he is backed by respected party chief adviser Chuan Leekpai who still enjoys influence in the party, especially over former MPs in the South.

Moreover, the timing is not right for change, said the source.

The next election will be held within five months, which is not enough for a new leader prepare to lead the election campaign, he added.

“Changing horses in midstream is not good for the party, let alone the gap in experience and fame between Abhisit and Warong. Can Warong lead the party to win [the next election]?” the source asked sceptically.

Suthep’s power play

Former protest leader Suthep has been plotting to seize control of his old party for the past year, in the hope of gaining Democrat backing for Prayut.

“Suthep has been lobbying us since last year to publicly declare support for Prayut [as next PM] before the election. He told me that in doing so we would be joining forces to fight against Thaksin’s camp,” a Democrat key man said.

“[But] how can we announce that support while we have our candidate in the prime minister list? If we do that [announce support for Prayut] we don’t need to campaign for the election at all,” he added.

Suthep’s own right-leaning Action Coalition for Thailand (ACT) party won’t get enough votes to secure Prayut as next premier, so he needs the backing of the Democrat Party, which is likely to win the second largest number of seats in the lower house.

Likely to form the core of the next government is either Pheu Thai or the pro-regime Palang Pracharat Party – but they will need the Democrats as coalition partners.

With a controllable party leader in place, Suthep would certainly have the Democrats ally with pro-Prayut factions in Parliament. Which explains why he has backed Warong as challenger to Abhisit.

However, the outcome of the leadership election might not matter when it comes to backing Prayut for premier, experts say.

Whether Abhisit or Warong wins, there is a high probability that the Democrats will collaborate with pro-junta parties to form the next government and support Prayut as prime minister, said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the faculty of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University.

“The Democrats have indirect relations with the military through Suthep’s ACT party. They are good friends,” Titipol said.

Stithorn Thananithichot, a political scientist at King Prajadhipok’s Institute, believes that the new Democrat leader, no matter who that is, would vote for Prayut if his name appears on the list of prime ministerial candidates of any political party.

All three leadership candidates have made clear that they won’t ally with Pheu Thai, seen as a proxy of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the academic said.

However, the Democrats would not support Prayut as an “outsider” PM, voted in by 500 MPs and 250 senators if the lower house fails to agree on its own prime minister, Stithorn said.

In that case, the Democrats would hold an advantage for not allying with Suthep’s ACT or Palang Pracharat before the election, he said.

“They [the Democrats] hope to come second [behind Pheu Thai]. In that scenario, the ACT or Palang Pracharat would have to vote for a Democrat leader to become the next PM,” Stithorn predicted.

Titipol added that a change of Democrat leadership would not make a significant change to the party or its strategy or agenda.

“It would just be to portray an image [if the leader changed] but the old way of thinking remains the same – they don’t truly support democracy,” he said.

The public doesn’t trust the Democrats when they say they won’t back the military regime to retain power after the next election, the academic said.

“In the end, they would rather protect their party’s interest than the country’s interest,” said Titipol.

Chaturon Chaisang, core leader of the Pheu Thai Party, said the new political system designed under junta-sponsored laws would render the election meaningless, leaving voters with the right to vote but unable to truly determine the country’s leaders or public policies.

A commemoration of the 1973 student uprising is held yesterday at the October 14 memorial, marking the 45th anniversary of the bloodshed fighting a military regime. // The Nation photo

In the name of peace and order, the NCPO kept the ban on political activities including the political campaign, he said. Although the regime promised to lift the ban in December, the veteran politician predicted that the campaign would still be limited.

“The only thing allowed to be communicated is how amazing this [Prayut Chan-o-cha]’s administration is,” Chaturon said at the forum at Thammasat University yesterday on the 45th anniversary of the October 14, 1973 student uprising against a military regime.

“The political campaign is actually in the law. But they forbid [us] from doing it, citing peace and order. But it destroys the spirit of the election,” said Chaturon, who was a student activist during the 1973 uprising.

When the election becomes meaningless, Chaturon said the coup-installed regime would be able to retain its power. The only way to reverse it would be for the public to pressure for a free and fair election.

Pheu Thai is seen as a target of the regime’s alleged abuse of power and currently fears party dissolution like its predecessors – Thai Rak Thai and People’s Power parties. Chaturon said he did not think there would be a dissolution of the party because there were no concrete reasons or evidence to prove Pheu Thai had done anything wrong. However, if such a mishap does occur, Chaturon said he believed Pheu Thai MPs could find shelter in other parties.

In case Pheu Thai could not really run in the election, he said the party’s core leaders would root for other pro-democracy parties, encouraging its supporters to vote for them.

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the Future Forward Party (FWP), similarly said that the junta’s laws had been written to undermine rather than promote political parties’ rights and freedom.

The FWP recently became a victim of the junta’s restrictions and was ordered by the Election Commission (EC) to stop accepting donations. Piyabutr yesterday called on the agency to interpret the limited laws to benefit parties rather than cause more difficulties.

“All agencies, including the EC, should realise that the NCPO is now in decline and will soon be gone. [But the agencies] will stay even after the election. So, they should stand by democracy, not the coup-installed regime. Be the cogs in the wheel of democracy, not the NCPO,” he said.

The other speakers at the forum hosted by an election watchdog, Free Fair & Fruitful Election, included representatives from various civil society groups and political parties such as Rames Ratanachaweng from the Democrat Party and Pradon Prisananatakul from Chart Thai Pattana Party.

They said the elections could not be truly free and fair unless political parties and voters enjoy full freedom.

The Royal Gazette announced that His Majesty the King signed an endorsement of the plan on October 8 and it was countersigned by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha on the same day.

The strategy plan was approved by the Cabinet on June 5 and it was approved by the National Legislative Assembly on July 6.

The 20-year national strategy, highlighted in the Constitution, obliges future governments to adhere to the plans. Cabinet members could be impeached if they refuse to comply with it.

Political parties and critics have lamented that the strategy, written with limited public participation, would overrule future elected governments and force them to carry out the junta’s legacy.

The EC’s deputy secretary-general Sawang Boonmee reiterated yesterday that fundraising was a political activity still banned by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) despite the latest relaxation.

He explained that party’s may have four major sources of income – seed capital, donations, raised fund, and membership fees.

Seed capital is money raised only from founding members, he said. Only parties formed under the old law may take their existing money from membership fees or donations as seed capital.

The membership fee is collected only from members, he added.

These are only two sources of income allowed, according to junta orders.

Fundraising and donation campaigns require the junta’s permission to be conducted, the EC said.

Prawit also said on Friday that parties should first seek permission with the NCPO.

However, he said it was up to the EC to decide on political matters and the NCPO was only in charge of keeping peace and order.

Meanwhile, Deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that the NCPO did not specifically ban donations to political parties or fundraising. But it was up to the EC to draw the line, he said.

The FWP raised more than Bt20 million from membership fees, donations, and fundraising through souvenir selling since last weekend when they for the first time opened membership applications.

Controversy was sparked after the EC red flagged the activities, saying fundraising and getting donations violated the political ban.

The party, however, argued new parties could not possibly have sufficient funds to run in the election if such activities were banned.

The move also raised a question if the agency’s discrimination against anti-junta parties.