Wissanu met with legislators, charter drafters and the Election Commission yesterday to seek solutions to problems arising from NCPO Order 53/2560, which amends the Political Party Act.

The meeting ended without yielding a solution but Wissanu said that drafting a new bill or enacting an Article 44 order were options that would now be proposed to PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

“All procedures take time but Article 44 might be the least time-consuming,” Wissanu said.

“It’s the best solution as of now, as it will not violate any other law,” agreed Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Pol Colonel Jarungwit Phumma, who also attended yesterday’s meeting.

The brainstorming session followed urgent pleas by political parties for changes to the primary voting system as they fear they might not be able to get organised in time for the election, which, after several delays, is scheduled for next February.

Their biggest concern is that they need to obtain a large number of new members. The new regulations require contesting parties to select their MP candidates using primary votes, and to do this they must have sufficient members in each contesting constituency to proceed with the primary vote.

The longstanding major parties have lost many of their previous members who did not “verify” themselves within the one-month period of April as per the junta’s order No 53/2017. That month had many public holidays.

Under the order, the parties are no longer allowed to seek new members.

Speaking prior to the meeting, Jarungwit said that one possible solution, apart from using Article 44, is that the parties could decrease the number of constituencies where they contest.

“We’ll also have to enable parties to seek new members,” he said.

THE JUNTA-SPONSORED charter, which imposes curbs on politicians, remains the prime target of big political parties who aim to replace it after the election even though it was endorsed in a 2016 national referendum, judging by the comments made at a symposium attended by prominent politicians yesterday.

The 2017 Constitution is an obstacle to the development of democracy in Thailand, agreed three politicians at the symposium, while a fourth disagreed. And while the charter has stipulations that make it difficult to amend, the politicians were united in saying that it should be amended and that making changes was feasible if the people desired it.

The symposium “Thailand’s Future Democracy: Overcoming Traps and Dreams?”was held yesterday at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan Campus.

Former Democrat Party prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, former Pheu Thai Party minister Chaturon Chaisang, prominent newcomer and head of Future Forward Party Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, and pro-junta politician and head of People’s Reform Party Paiboon Nititawan were the speakers.

Abhisit said democratic development was being blocked by several traps – the Constitution, the organic laws, the junta orders and the 250 junta-appointed senators.

He said that although the Constitution was already in place and the country was heading towards a poll, the ruling National Council for Peace and Order’s (NCPO) orders were blocking the election road map it had previously created.

And even if the election happened, he said, it remained uncertain how free and fair it would be given the junta’s absolute power. In addition, after the voting the country would be stuck with a Constitution that was not democratic, said Abhisit, and with senators appointed by the junta.

Thanathorn, a businessman who recently turned politician and is highly favoured by progressive young people, said the coups that had been repeatedly staged throughout the country’s modern history were traps that had prevented the country from getting anywhere.

His Future Forward Party had therefore made it their main agenda to stop that cycle, he said, pledging to restore the people’s faith in the parliamentary system.

The party would also bring hope to the country, he said.

“And our party proposes that we find a consensus and strengthen democracy,” Thanathorn added. “To do that, we need a supermajority in the Lower House and then we will amend the Constitution and put it to a referendum.”

Paiboon, who had served in the reform assembly under the coup-installed regime and had been supportive of the NCPO, however expressed scepticism about elections and implied they were not necessary in a democracy.

Reflecting on political conflict and the violence that had broken out since the election of the Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2006, Paiboon questioned whether it was democracy.

With elections, the people only had power for four seconds when in the polling booth, he said. But what came after was corrupt MPs abusing power while citing the people’s mandate, Paiboon added.

The current regime was disliked by some people, Paiboon said, but would help fix the problems in democracy.

He acknowledged that many people disapproved of the NCPO’s legacy, including the 250 senators who would be around for five years. But, said Paiboon, “[You] have to bear with it for five years and you’ll like it.”

In response, Chaturon said that democracy had a checks-and-balances system to deal with corruption. But the process had been blocked by the coups, he said.

Most importantly, the coups and their legacy had destroyed the democracy that had been developing for at least 15 years, during which voters learned to choose parties based on their policies, Chaturon said.

The latest coup would leave behind a legacy of the Constitution, reforms and the national strategy, all planned without public participation, he said.

“The national strategy will be a trap and it will continue to be a trap for the next 20 years,” Chaturon said.

He proposed that the Constitution be amended. Only fair rules could solve the problems facing the country, including political conflict, he said.

Chaturon said it was important that pro-democracy parties made it a point to amend the Constitution. It should be a policy plank that is campaigned on before the election, he said.

Subsequently both the national reform and the 20-year strategy, which could lead to politicians being punished if they refuse to obey them, should also be reviewed, he added.

Though Abhisit agreed that the Constitution was problematic and needed handling, he saw it as perilous to vigorously argue the issue before election day.

The public may become sceptical, wondering if the politicians wanted to do that for themselves and not for public interest, he said.

Paiboon, meanwhile, reminded everyone that it would not be easy to bring about any amendment to the Constitution. In addition to elected MPs, it also needed to be passed by one-third of the senators and one-fifth of the opposition force, he said.

Others, however, said that if the people backed an amendment, it could be achieved.

He said officials concerned with the preparations for the national vote, from the government, the Election Commission (EC), |the Constitution Drafting Commission, and Council of State – which is the government’s legal adviser – would take part in the meeting.

Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, said the discussion at Government House would focus on obstacles that political parties are facing due to the Political Parties Act and the NCPO Order No 53/2017, which made some amendments to the new law.

Political parties have complained that the order issued by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) last December, in addition to the junta ban on political activities, had restricted them from preparing for the election, such as holding primary voting among party members to select election candidates.

“The discussion may not lead to a conclusion. It’s because the participants cannot make decisions by themselves,” Wissanu said yesterday.

No representatives from political parties have been invited to attend today’s meeting, he said.

Wissanu expected the EC to raise the issues viewed as obstructing the preparations for the election. The EC is likely to ask the NCPO to issue an order under Article 44 of the post-coup charter allowing the agency to designate constituencies before the new electoral law takes effect.

The EC plans to discuss with the government the difficulties faced by political parties, the agency’s secretary-general, Jarungvith Phumma, said yesterday. He will be representing the EC at the meeting today.

The issues include recruitment of party members and convening party assemblies, according to Jarungvith. These should be fixed to allow parties to make arrangements for the election, he added.

The agency would recommend solutions to the problems but it was up to the NCPO to make a decision, Jarungvith said.

Meanwhile, the two major political parties took opposing stances on whether to join a meeting with the junta that is expected later this month.

Chusak Sirinin

Key Pheu Thai member Chusak Sirinin said his party remained firm in its opinion that electoral matters were the EC’s responsibility and that the NCPO should stay out of it.

He said since the NCPO was now showing signs of political ambition by forming its own political party, it had become a stakeholder in the election and hence lacked legitimacy to host talks to discuss the election with other parties, Chusak said.

Democrat deputy leader Nipit Intrasombat said party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had already said that it would cooperate with the NCPO. So, it was likely that the Democrats would join the talks, he said.

However, another Democrat deputy leader, Ongart Klampaiboon, said yesterday that so far the party had not been officially approached by the NCPO about the meeting. The party had to first see the agenda before it could prepare itself, he said.

Ongart said he was particularly concerned about the timeframe set by the law. He was uncertain if it was sufficient for political parties to make arrangements before the election.

Lt-General Pongsakorn Rodchompoo, deputy leader of tentative Future Forward Party, was firm that his party would not attend the junta-initiated meeting with political parties unless the meeting were broadcast live to ensure transparency.

“We are just a newborn party. We will not have that much weight in the meeting anyway,” Pongsakorn said, adding the meeting would be just a ritual for the junta and it would not actually seek the opinion of politicians.

Chart Thai Pattana Party keyman Varawut Silpa-archa said that his party would be happy to join if invited but the junta would have to make clear the pre-election timeline at the meeting.

“We are not setting any conditions to speak to the [NCPO]. We only would like to figure out a schedule ahead of the election, which the PM said would be held next February,” Varawut said.

Prawit, who is also Defence Minister, said on Wednesday said he had been assigned by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to chair the first meeting with political parties and the Election Commission to discuss which activities the politicians would be allowed to undertake prior to the election scheduled for February next year.

“But we won’t lift all the political bans, especially campaigning for the election. We will wait until the MP election law is complete. They may be allowed to get or find party members only,” he said.

After the 2014 coup, the junta issued an order to ban all political gatherings and activities.

But since most of the necessary organic laws involving the election have come into effect and all legal hurdles were finally cleared by the Constitutional Court, politicians have called on the junta to lift the ban to allow them to begin their activities in preparation for the election.

The Court has given the green light to the MP and Senate election bills, making all the crucial election laws ready for royal endorsement and promulgation. According to the Constitution, an election should be held within 150 days after all these laws are effective.

However, in a move seen as a means of delaying the next election, the MP election law will come into effect three months after it was published in the Royal Gazette.

“This epoch-making summit reflects the strong commitment of the two leaders to achieve sustained peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula with denuclearisation as the key step,” a ministry press release said.

Thailand also has “ardent hope that all parties concerned will exert their utmost efforts in attaining these significant goals for the benefits of the region and the world”, it added.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said earlier that he welcomed the meeting as “a good sign to the world, if they can practise what they agreed”.

Both the US and North Korea have embassies in Bangkok. although Thailand has been pressed to limit its diplomatic and economic ties with the totalitarian country in recent years.

As a third party, Thailand has stressed it is neutral over the Korean peninsula issue. Yet, it has abided by the Asean consensus to “ensure peace and stability” over the region, including following the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that denounce North Korea.

Amid claims that regional visits were an attempt to boost his popularity before the election, he said: “In the past four years, we have always had this kind of excursion. So, don’t think that we do this on purpose.

“The provincial groups have requested a budget to improve the basic infrastructure. But we already have a plan to do it. So, the allocation will be based on the plan.”

He said that the government would look into matters that were urgent and needed allocation from the new national budget for the year 2019. If they required a large mount, the government may consider listing them in the master plan on the development of basic infrastructure, he said.

The government has been under scrutiny over concerns that it might go on a spending spree with taxpayers’ money in an effort to build popularity ahead of the election.

The Cabinet yesterday also turned down a proposal to increase the retirement allowance for some 600 officials serving the National Council for Peace and Order.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that the Cabinet had not approved the plan and had asked the NCPO’s secretary office to reconsider whether the bonus was really necessary.

The NCPO has been under fire since the issue was in the news on Monday. Wissanu said that the number of officials involved had actually been cut down already from more than a thousand to 600.

He added that Prayut had remarked that the number could be reduced further.

It was uncertain when the issue would be resubmitted to the government, the deputy PM said.

EC president Supachai Somcharoen said yesterday that the calendar was in line with the government’s road map but he declined to disclose details. “It could be viewed as forcing the government to fol?low the calendar, which is not appropri?ate,” he said.

Supachai said that at its upcoming meeting with the government to discuss the election, the EC plans to suggest elim?inating legal obstacles that prevent polit?ical parties from complying with the elec?toral law ahead of the national vote.

The obstacles result from the junta’s orders, including the ban on political activities. Parties have been unable to con?vene meetings or hold primary voting among party members to select election candidates, which is required by electoral law.

Supachai said the EC also was likely to ask the National Council for Peace and Order to issue a new order under Article 44 of the post-coup charter, to allow the agency to designate constituencies before the new law on the election of MPs comes into effect.

The EC team is to be headed by its sec?retary general Jarungvith Phumma, Supachai said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has called a meeting with repre?sentatives from the EC and the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) today at Government House to dis?cuss legal matters regarding preparations for the election, CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said yesterday.

Wissanu is in charge of the govern?ment’s legal affairs.

Meechai yesterday also attempted to allay concerns by political parties about the limited time remaining for them to prepare for the election.

He said that the new constituencies would not be much different from the ones used in previous polls, and he did not think the designation would take much time.

Political parties could communicate with their members through modern channels, so it would not take too much time for them to prepare for primary vot?ing, Meechai said.

Also, a provisional clause in the electoral law states that in the first election after the new legislation takes effect, political parties are allowed to hold primary voting by provinces, and not constituencies, he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hinted yesterday that he would not attend the meeting between the government and political parties to be held later this month.

He said a deputy prime minister could represent the government at the meeting.

Proposals collected from politicians during the meeting would later be forwarded to him and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to consider, he said.

Among other suggestions, the PM expected a proposal for the NCPO to lift its ban on political parties.

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged voters to look at “different political options” at the next general election as the ruling junta prepares to meet with politicians later this month.

“It starts from whether you will get a government with good governance. Please vote for people whom you trust, not only those whom you’re familiar with,” Prayut told local residents of Phichit during his field trip there yesterday.

“If you get the same old faces and they can’t fix anything, think about that for yourselves,” he said.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has tentatively scheduled a meeting with political parties for later this month, when the two remaining organic laws are expected to be promulgated, giving more certainty to the long-delayed election.

The NCPO expects to meet both existing and new parties – some of the latter have already indicated their support for the current regime and even for the retired former Army chief to continue his premiership after the election.

Widely viewed as the junta’s attempt to put political parties “in order” ahead of the national vote, the meeting is the subject of concern among politicians who want it to address issues, including it being broadcast live and the lifting |of the junta’s ban on political activities.

The NCPO is still working on the details of exactly how and when the election will take place.

Prayut, meanwhile, has led his Cabinet members on a two-day visit to the lower northern provinces of Phichit and Nakhon Sawan for yet another mobile Cabinet tour.

Prayut has been on nationwide tours at least once a month for more than a year to “keep in touch” with local bases and approve budgets for local development projects.

The cabinet tours have however, been staged amid criticism that Prayut is spending public funds to organise the trips in order to boost his political popularity among provincial residents. Last month in Buri Ram, Prayut was enthusiastically welcomed by more than 30,000 locals just a day before his Cabinet approved a costly irrigation project.

In Nakhon Sawan yesterday, Prayut also met with more than a dozen local former MPs and senators based in lower northern and upper central provinces from several political parties.

“I have only come to follow up on development projects, not to campaign for politics as people with ill intentions claim,” the premier told the locals yesterday.

Meanwhile, a key figure in the Chart Thai Pattana Party yesterday urged the junta to revise its order so political parties could accept new members as soon as possible.

Varawut Silapa-archa, a key adviser to the party’s leader, said the NCPO Order No 53/2017 needed to be amended to allow political parties to accept new members.

He warned that without any revision, the order could cause problems at the next election, particularly regarding parties fielding their candidates. Varawut explained that the new electoral law required political parties to hold primary votes among members in order to select their election candidates.

The politician said the law set minimum numbers of party members in holding primary voting for candidates in all 350 constituencies and many parties currently did not meet that requirement. For example, he said, Chart Thai has a little over 4,000 registered members to confirm their membership. It needs between 8,000 and 10,000, for primary voting if the party wants to field election candidates in all 350 constituencies throughout the country, Varawut said.

“I ask for sympathy. The NCPO should at least unlock this rule to allow political parties to accept new members now,” he said.

The NCPO order was issued last December as an amendment to the new Political Parties Act. The order only allowed existing political parties to have their registered members confirm their membership during the month of April.

Most parties saw no more than 10 per cent of their registered members confirm their membership. The junta has not allowed political parties to accept new members since.

Bunlert Buranoupakorn, who had been suspended from duty at the order of the junta since July 2016, resumed his work as the northern city’s PAO chief this Monday.

When asked if his reinstatement resulted from any bargaining with people in power, Bunlert maintained on Monday there had been no such political manoeuvring.

“This has nothing to do with politics. My return this time has no strings attached – no conditions at all. I have never met the prime minister, even once,” he said.

The Chiang Mai PAO chief added that the decision to reinstate him was instead due to an investigation finding that he had not committed any wrongdoing as alleged.

He also said he would not enter national politics, but rather would continue with local politics in the northern city.

“I am more familiar with local politics, where I have been for over 20 years,” he explained.

Upon his return to work, Bunlert was welcomed by colleagues and well-wishers at the PAO office, including former Chiang Mai MPs from the Pheu Thai Party and an ex-senator.

With smiles, he received many flowers from well-wishers and colleagues.

In 2016, Bunlert was investigated and suspended from duty after being accused of involvement in the issuance of leaflets making distorted claims about the draft new constitution, which was being put to the country in a referendum at the time.

Chiang Mai has been dominated by politicians from the Pheu Thai Party, which won all 10 House seats up for grabs in the northern city in the 2011 general election.

Bunlert is one of four suspended PAO chiefs whose reinstatements were ordered by PM Prayut last week.

The other three are the PAO heads of Yasothon, Mukdahan and Sakon Nakhon provinces, all in the Northeast and dominated by Pheu Thai in the last national election.

Prayut and the junta reportedly are building a political alliance ahead of the next general election.

“I had opportunities to meet with my old friends [whom I have known] since I was student, a businessman and then a politician,” Thaksin wrote in his Instagram account, @thaksinlive, under a set of photos of him and his sister Yingluck.

The siblings visited Washington DC, New York City and Kentucky state, where they studied for their masters degrees at different times.

Thaksin added: “Visiting places where I once spent my life gives me indescribable happiness.”

While it is not the first time that the two fugitive ex-PMs have publicised their appearances together since Yingluck fled Thailand last year, this is the first time Thaksin has posted photos with his sister to his social media account. The 68-year-old former premier is normally active on Facebook but only posts to Twitter and Instagram on special occasions. He also rarely posts about his private life.

However, the Shinawatras’ lives can still be seen in the social media accounts of Thaksin’s three children – Panthogntae, Paetongtarn and Pintongta – who have often posted photos of their father and aunt enjoying their life abroad.

“Father sent us a photo of himself in a KFC restaurant in Kentucky, where he used to work part-time when he was a student there,” Pintongta wrote in her Instagram account @aimpintongta. 

Both Thaksin and Yingluck went into exile to avoid jail terms following court convictions. Thaksin, who faces six arrest warrants, left Thailand in 2008 after his short return to Thailand following the victory of the Phalang Prachachon Party, the reincarnation of the Thaksin-founded Thai Rak Thai Party.

Yingluck made a dramatic escape last year, just a few days before she was due to hear the court’s ruling on a case stemming from her rice-pledging scheme. She was eventually handed a five-year jail sentence in absentia.

Yingluck was not seen for months until she was spotted in London last year while shopping, and later in Shanghai and Tokyo. Despite her appearances, Yingluck has yet to make any remarks in public. Yingluck was recently granted a 10-year visa by the UK, according to a BBC Thai report that cited her close aides.