The court has scheduled a debate on the same day concerning separate petitions on the constitutionality of the organic law on MP elections and a junta order amending the Political Parties Act.

Thirty National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members brought the first case to court through its president, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai.

They are seeking a decision on whether certain provisions and requirements about the initial voting and selection of senators are constitutional.

The judges involved have studied the petition by the NLA members and debated the matter, according to a press release issued yesterday.

Final ruling

The judges will disclose their individual judgements and vote on a final verdict on May 23, the court said.

The second case was brought to court by 27 NLA members through the assembly’s president, seeking a verdict on whether certain provisions in the bill on the election of MPs are constitutional.

According to a press release, the court has scheduled May 23 for the judges involved to debate the issues in the case to arrive at a verdict.

The third case was brought to court by the Ombudsman’s Office following separate petitions by the Pheu Thai and Democrat parties.

The Ombudsman’s Office asked the court to rule whether Order No 53/2560 issued by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in December |was in conflict with the Constitution.

The order issued by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as the NCPO chief, in effect amended the Political Parties Act, which has not been fully enacted due to a ban imposed by the ruling junta on political activities.

The court said Pheu Thai and the Democrats had submitted their statements to the court but that the NCPO leader had asked for an extension to his May 11 deadline.

“The court granted the request and scheduled May 23 for a debate that will lead to the judgement,” the press release said.

Following a suggestion by police, the Foreign Ministry revoked Chaturon’s three passports, including a diplomatic one, to prevent him from travelling abroad.

The court ruled that the order to revoke the passports was against the law since Chaturon was not prohibited from travelling out of the Kingdom.

While the prominent politician and former deputy prime minister was prosecuted in a court martial for resisting an order by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to report himself to the junta after the 2014 coup, the court ruled that he was allowed to travel abroad occasionally.

With permission of the NCPO, Chaturon can travel abroad and return to the Kingdom at any time within a determined period, the court said.

“It is apparent that [Chaturon] did not have any intention to flee from the country to avoid the prosecution, therefore the ministry and concerned officials have no legitimacy to revoke the passports,” the court ruled.

The court agreed with Chaturon that the termination of his passport was politically motivated, since the former minister had criticised the junta-sponsored draft of constitution.

There was no solid reason to support the order to revoke the passport, therefore its termination was illegal, the court said.

Chaturon yesterday said his case should be a lesson for the authorities when it came to the abuse of power to ban freedom of expression. The order to terminate his passport was a reaction to his criticism of the military-sponsored charter, he said. “I have been bitter about such unjust and unfair treatment over the past three years,” he told reporters after the verdict.

Chaturon sued the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, the Consular Department and its director-general, who are responsible for the passport affairs, as well as National Police Chief, who made the recommendation for the revocation.

Don said the ministry and he now had to comply with the court ruling and would reissue three passports for Chaturon. “The case is over but it’s up to [Chaturon] what to do next,” Don said when asked what would happen if Chaturon sued the responsible officials for alleged abuse of power.

Revocation of politicians’ and activists’ passports was a practice conducted by authorities after the military coup in 2006 to humiliate and obstruct the travel of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was then ousted by the coup.

Thaksin’s passports were revoked every time his opponents were in power, but they were reissued every time his associates came into office.

The current junta also revoked Thaksin’s passports in May 2015 after he gave an interview with foreign media criticising the military coup staged by General Prayut Chan-o-cha to purge his sister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Thaksin also asked the administrative court to rule out the termination of his passport.

In a separate case, the court yesterday rejected Thaksin’s plea on the grounds that he is already in exile in a foreign country. With or without a Thai passport, Thaksin can travel.

Thaksin said yesterday that the court’s verdict was “not beyond my expectation”.

“The reason I filed the lawsuit was not because I had difficulty in not holding a Thai passport. Rather I merely wished to see that the Thai justice system had the opportunity to prove itself from the criticism that it had been used as political tool … against specific groups of people,” the ex-PM said in his Twitter posts.

The Democrat Party had only about 100,000 out of 2.5 million registered members confirming their memberships in April, during which National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), allowed existing parties to open for confirmation.

The Pheu Thai Party saw about 10,000 out of 130,000 registered members confirming their memberships during the period, which was set by a junta order issued in December.

Democrat deputy leader Nipit Intarasombat blamed the NCPO for the low number of confirmations. He said the junta did not allow parties to conduct any public relations and that the confirmation procedures set by authorities were “complicated”.

“Also many current members are not ready to pay their membership fees,” he added.The annual membership fee is Bt100 and a lifetime membership fee is Bt2,000.

However, Nipit said he did not think the low confirmation number would affect the party’s performance at the next election. Ongart Klampaiboon, another deputy Democrat leader, echoed that claim yesterday.

Pheu Thai leader Viroj Pao-in said that many registered party members disagreed with the need to pay membership fees, so they simply did not confirm their membership.

The party’s secretary-general, Phumtham Wechayachai, blamed the junta’s “attempt to reset the existing political parties” for the low number of confirmed memberships.

“People in power want to make things complicated for the political parties so that the number of their members will be reduced. However, there will be no impact on the party’s support base,” he said.

Earlier, the Chart Thai Pattana Party voiced concern after barely more than 10 per cent of its members reaffirmed their membership during the permitted period, which ended on Monday.

Nikorn Chamnong, the party director, said Chart Thai Pattana was dissatisfied that only 2,500 out of its 24,710 registered members had confirmed their status. He said the small number of confirmed memberships would adversely affect the party’s primary voting to select its candidates for the general election.

The veteran politician called on authorities to review the requirement for primary voting and postpone its enforcement until after the next general election, warning that otherwise all political parties “would be in trouble” and that the entire party system would be affected.

Meanwhile, the Chart Pattana Party disclosed that almost one-third of its members had come to confirm their membership as of Monday. Party leader Wannarat Charnnukul said that 5,583 out of its 18,163 registered members – or 30.7 per cent – had reaffirmed membership, which he described as “satisfactory”.

But that may be changing now that new faces are lining up to take matters into their own hands, vowing to make the country progressive.

As soon as the ban on political activities was eased and the registration of new political parties was allowed two months ago, Thai politics has seen fresh energy.

The Future Forward Party is in the spotlight with an image of youth and progressiveness. But Thailand has also seen a newcomer called the Moderate Party, which pledges to offer a solution to the conflicts plaguing the country.

“Good people try to stay as far away from politics as they can, because politics is a bad word now,” said the party’s co-founder Chumphol Krootkaew, a former prominent research scientist and an ultra marathon runner who made a sharp turn to join politics.

“So, I want to do this to set an example that we all can be politicians, no matter how distant from it we may seem. I want people to look at politics again and see that it is a good thing.”

Chumphol said that after finishing an adventurous running programme in Nepal last year, he found pushing the limits could go beyond conquering himself. So, he thought about doing something for the greater good, he said.

The elite runner also has a close relationship with a co-founder of the most talked-about party, Future Forward, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who also has a heart for extreme and adventurous activities.

Chumphol said the billionaire and his political ambition in part inspired him to come into politics. However, he decided to take a separate path and set up a party on his own, not join Thanathorn.

“I see that the moderate approach to be adopted by the Moderate Party fits better with me,” Chumphol said. “While Thanathorn is an aggressive progressive, I lean more towards the moderate progressive spectrum.”

He went on to say that studies had found that moderate parties were actually the solution to countries divided into strong left and right wings, and were successful in many countries as a medium to link people with different ideologies together.Chumphol also said he thinks he has a solution for Thailand.

“To be a moderate party, one of our key values is that we respect everyone’s beliefs and decisions. We will not try to change anyone. There’s no use,” he said. “We’d rather step over all these conflicts and put our time and energy into developing the country. When this works out, people will change accordingly.”

The party accepts people from rival political colours, yellow or red, Chumphol said. So long as they were willing to move the country forward, they were welcomed, he said.

While all this may sound too good to be true to some people, the scientist-turned-politician insisted that such a goal was achievable, especially with the help of technology.

The Moderate Party is the first party in Thailand to pledge full utilisation of modern technology in the decision-making process in politics. “Direct and liquid democracy”, Chumphol called it.

Referendums can be held as many times as necessary when everyone can vote via a smartphone or a computer, he suggested. Better yet, if voters could also opt to assign experts in a field related to each issue to make a decision on their behalf, too, he said.

Despite such a scheme that could overturn politics and the role of the members of parliament in decision-making, Chumphol said the party did not have ambitions for power and actually would not mind losing an election.

“The national interest is our first priority. The sustainability of the party is the second. And winning an election is actually the third,” he said. “So, we’re not here to just win an election. We aim more at making the country and our party better. And we hope that when we accomplish that, winning an election will come naturally.”

THE PRIME minister yesterday played down rallies by pro-democracy activists planned for this month to press the ruling junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), to hold the long-delayed election this year.

General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday insisted that the election would have to be held next year following a conclusion by the junta-appointed legislative assembly to delay the implementation of the MP election law.

“I have told the international arena about this and no one objected to me,” he said at Government House. “I never wished to delay the election, but the law changes make it unavoidable.”

He also hinted that the activists might have political agendas.

“Just see if they are old or new people. Do they talk in line with politicians? I wish people would take lessons from escalations in the past,” Prayut said.

General Wallop Raksanor, secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), added that protesters should not plan to be violent and should not break any laws.

The pro-election activists, led by the Democracy Restoration Group, plan to launch major assemblies this month, when the NCPO will reach its fourth anniversary in power.They will not only call for an election but also demand that the junta not remain in power after the election.

Their demands are linked to fears that the current junta-written constitution may allow the NCPO to mobilise its power via the parliamentary system, with wholly handpicked senators and the possibility of an outsider prime minister.

Additionally, the junta-written, 20-year national strategy plan provides for punishments for civilian governments if they fail to follow it.

Since the start of the assemblies in January, dozens of activists, students and journalist have faced charges for allegedly breaking the junta’s ban on political gatherings of five or more people, the public assembly law, and land traffic laws.

Unlike his uncle, Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was invovled in a military service avoidance scandal, Parit insisted that his voluntary conscription had nothing to do with correcting the legacy of the Democrat leader. “Even if I were not his nephew, I would still apply to enlist,” he said.

The 26-year-old will spend six months at a military camp. This means that he should be out in November, three months before the general election is due to be held.

Parit, who plans to become a Democrat member and eventually an MP candidate, is one of new faces emerging after a so-called “lost decade” in the Thai political arena.

With “young blood” branding, Parit has brushed aside political linkage with his uncle, who has been one of the key players in Thai politics and is also a controversial figure.

On Tuesday, Parit reported to the 11th Army Circle with his hair already cut and his political plans already cleared. That included a talk with Abhisit a few days ago about the party’s policies and direction during his absence, and talks with the young-blood team he leads, Parit said.

He also stressed that he would not be “attracted” to any other political party despite recent waves of politicians shifting to side with the junta.

“My ideology is very clear. I will go for the party that can serve my purpose,” he said. “If the Democrat Party can enter new era, I will go for it. And there is currently no reason it cannot do so.”

Parit chose to remain mum about increasing calls to end the requirement for all qualified Thai men to be conscripted for military service.

“I choose to voluntarily enlist to the service because I wish to carry on my duties as required by the law,” he said. “I should have more idea on whether conscription should exist once I enter the service.”

Rangsiman Rome, one of the accused activists and a key figure of Democracy Restoration Group (DRG), said that it was because police officers at Chana Songkhram Police Station filed the requests out of office hours without the presence of any of the accused.

“The traffic jam was terrible today so we did not reach the court in time,” Rangsiman told The Nation. “We travelled to the court separately from the officers. We were not, and could not be, forced to do so, but we had planned to be there to object to the police requests.”

The activists, who are demanding that an election be held, reported themselves to the police over charges issued after they participated in an assembly on March 24, when they marched to the Army headquarters in Bangkok to call for the military to stop supporting the ruling junta.

Three of the activists who were due to report yesterday – Chonthicha Jangrew, Apisit Sapnapapan and Korakoch Saengyenphan – had also been issued arrest warrants, as they had not shown up at the appointed time.

They were charged with allegedly breaking the junta’s ban against political gatherings of five or more people, the public assembly law and the land traffic law.

A total of 47 activists face charges but 41 of them reported to the police on April 18.The police requested back then that all 41 be detained, but the court also denied those requests.

The March gathering was part of a series of assemblies the DRG and its allies have planned since January, when junta-appointed legislators agreed to postpone the implementation of the MP election law, causing the election expected to be held in November to be delayed until next year.

The group has insisted that an election be held this year and that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) not remain in power after the election.

The group did not hold an assembly in April but it plans to launch a days-long assembly on Saturday to put pressure on the undemocratic regime.

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who chaired a Defence Council meeting yesterday, has assigned Army commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart to prepare a procedural handbook, Defence Ministry spokesman Lt-General Kongcheep Tantrawanit said.

“The handbook is meant to prevent clashes between officials and demonstrators.People involved must understand the legal framework. Human rights must not be violated. This is something the prime minister is concerned about,” Kongcheep said.

“The goal is to avoid problems that happened in the past – injuries, human rights violations, or lack of understanding on laws.”

The Army is working with the Justice Ministry to prepare the handbook, which is expected to be completed “as soon as possible”, the spokesman said.

He said that the guidelines would comply with international practices in dealing with protesters, including the principle that officials are required to use light measures first and gradually increase the degree of severity if those initial measures do not work.

For example, he added, officials dealing with demonstrators would start with issuing a warning and then use water cannons before adopting tougher actions.

“Participating in political activities is a civic duty. It is an expression. And since we are in the Thailand 4.0 age now, people are even more politically active,” the long-time activist said. “So, I will join with any movement that demands elections. That’s surely a good thing. And I support groups calling for elections. Government, do not try to use any trick to delay it.”

This month marks the fourth anniversary of the 2014 coup led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha and a major anti-junta demonstration has also been planned. Somyot said the climate now is similar to the 1992 Black May period, when a riot against a military-backed government ended in a bloody crackdown.

Unless something is done to change the course Thailand is on, another demonstration for democracy could break out, said Somyot who was also an active protester in the 1992 incident. The movement was the backlash to a coup that was driving the country backwards as well as damaging the economy, he added.

“The more dictatorial force is used, the worse it is for human rights, democracy and the government itself. It only leads to more conflict,” he said.

Against the backdrop of political conflict, culminating in a bloody crackdown on the red-shirt protesters in 2010, Somyot was labelled as belonging to the “anti-monarchy camp” by the then-government of Abhisit Vejjajiva. He was detained without charge for 19 days in a military camp under a state of emergency.

Somyot Prueksakasemsuk holding the three-finger gesture, the symbol resistant of the coup-installed regime mimicking the blockbuster film “The Hunger Game”: Photo: Sa-nguan Khumrungroj 

Somyot was arrested again on April 30, 2011 following his campaign to collect 10,000 signatures for a petition calling for an amendment to Article 112, or lese majeste law, of the Penal Code.

Article 112 says whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.

The authorities charged editor Somyot for publishing two articles in Voice of Taksin that were written by Jit Pollachan, a pseudonym of an exiled politician. The writer has never been charged under Article 112.

The initial sentence handed down was 10 years in prison for the two lese majeste magazine articles. It was reduced to six years last year by the Supreme Court on the grounds that he did not write the article and in view of his advancing age. He turns 55 this year.

However, Somyot had to serve another year in jail over a charge for defaming General Saprang Kalayanamitr.

Groups dedicated to human rights have pointed to wide-ranging examples of the lese majeste law being misused for political purposes, rather than to protect the monarchy.

According to iLaw, a non-profit organisation monitoring rights and freedom cases and legislation, at least 94 people have been charged with lese majeste since the 2014 coup.

Scholars, non-governmental organisations and international organisations have campaigned without success for the amendment of Article 112 and the release of perpetrators.

The authorities frame lese majeste cases as security matters. With the charge, people are detained for a long time before getting their day in court. Somyot applied for bail 16 times and was rejected on all occasions.

Somyot’s freedom yesterday was welcomed warmly by fellow activists, friends and family members, including his two children. Plainclothes officers reportedly also observed the scene.

Somyot said that he had kept a journal recording hardships and infringements of basic rights behind bars and that he hoped to return to editing, unfazed by the fact that it had led to his imprisonment.

Nikorn Chamnong, the party director, said Chart Thai Pattana was dissatisfied that only 2,500 out of its 24,710 registered members had confirmed their status before the confirmation period ended.

He said the small number of confirmed memberships would adversely affect the party’s primary voting to select its candidates for the general election.

The Political Parties Act requires that parties need at least 7,000 members from all over the country, a minimum 500 from their branches, and at least 120 provincial representatives in the primary voting required by law.

“Chart Thai Pattana has 2,500 confirmed members initially. We need 6,000 more for nationwide primary voting [to achieve party’s target of 8,500]. That’s not easy given the limited time,” Nikorn said.

He added that he expected old Chart Thai Pattana members who had failed to confirm their membership by the April 30 deadline to apply as new members after the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) further relaxes its restriction on political activities.

The veteran politician called on the authorities to review the requirement for primary voting and postpone its enforcement until the next-but-one general election.

The next national poll is expected to be held in February 2019.

He warned that without postponement of the required primary voting, both existing and new political parties “would be in trouble” and that the entire political party system would be affected.

A junta order issued in December allows existing political parties to have their current members confirm their membership in April. Monday was the last day allowed by the order.

Existing parties have complained that one month is too short for the membership confirmation, as the number of members they each have ranges from several thousand to over a million.

Meanwhile, the Chart Pattana Party disclosed that almost one-third of its members had come to confirm their membership as of Monday.

Party leader Wannarat Charnnukul said that 5,583 out of its 18,163 registered members – or 30.7 per cent – had reaffirmed their membership, a number he described as “satisfactory”.

Wannarat said the party would seek more members and the minimum targeted number was 10,000 to facilitate the requirement for primary voting.

He called on the NCPO to lift its ban on political activities to allow parties to find new members and prepare for the next election.

Deputy Premier and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan made the assignment through Army commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart while chairing a Defence Council meeting on Monday, spokesman Lt-General Kongcheep Tantrawanit said.

The Army chief attended the meeting in his capacity as secretary-general of the National Council for Peace and Order.

The handbook will offer implementation guidelines based on relevant laws and the principle of human rights, Kongcheep said.

“The handbook is meant to prevent clashes between officials and demonstrators. People involved must understand the legal framework. Human rights must not be violated. This is something the prime minister is concerned about,” he explained.

“The goal is to avoid problems that happened in the past – injuries, human-rights violations, or lack of understanding about laws,” he added.

The Army is working with the Justice Ministry in preparing the handbook, which is expected to be completed “as soon as possible”, the spokesman said.

He also said that the guidelines would comply with international practice in dealing with protesters, including a principle that officials are required to use light measures first and gradually increase the degree of toughness if the initial measures do not work.

For example, he added, officials dealing with demonstrators would start by issuing a warning and if necessary then use water cannons, before adopting tougher measures.

A group of people calling for an early general election plan to hold a street rally this coming Saturday.

The Defence Ministry was asked to comment on what some have perceived as an attempt to create a situation intended to lead to a bloody military crackdown, as in 1992, which was later known as the Black May event.

Kongcheep said the prevailing conditions in 1992 and at present were different, but security authorities were “following the matter”.