Final approval from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is needed before an amended version of the order is announced, he added.

“The Council of State is preparing the draft. But I don’t know when the change will be made. That will need approval from the NCPO,” said Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs.

The government and the NCPO had been aware of the issues raised by political parties regarding NCPO Order No 53/2560, and representatives from the government and the NCPO last week met with their counterparts from the Election Commission to discuss the matter, the deputy PM said.

Most of the issues involved the practicality of certain clauses in the order, and amendments to the original order are expected to address those problems, he explained.

The order, issued in December by General Prayut Chan-o-cha in his capacity as head of the NCPO, made amendments to the Political Parties Act.

Established political parties, namely Pheu Thai and the Democrats, have complained about certain clauses in the order, arguing that some put them at a disadvantage while others are impractical.

Meanwhile, when Prime Minister Prayut was also asked about the calls for amendments to the NCPO order, he said the authorities involved “are considering” the matter.

The Ombudsman’s Office has asked the Constitutional Court to determine whether the order deprives the political parties of certain rights and puts an additional burden on them.

The premier and his Cabinet members will leave Bangkok at 7am by C-130 aircraft from a military airport and fly straight to Pattani Airport in Nong Chik district.

Prayut and his entourage will then go to Central Stadium for the official opening of the 13th meeting of scouts in the Southern border provinces.

Colonel Taksada Sangkachan said the five-day meeting would start on Tuesday with the aim of showing the Asean Community the potential of the scouting movement in the Southern border provinces.

After that, the premier will chair a meeting on economic and society development for the border region, the spokeswoman said.

In the afternoon, Prayut will hand over sporting equipment to representatives of five schools in Kokepho district before visiting a community where Buddhists and Muslims live together in harmony.

He will leave for Bangkok in the evening. This will be the second time Prayut has visited Pattani as prime minister. His first visit was made in November last year.

“I will soon send it back to the NLA so that they can petition with the court,” Prayut said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, asked the NLA on Monday to petition the court as soon as possible so that a verdict could come out early.

He said that NLA members could immediately take the case to the court rather than waiting for the PM to send the actual bill back to them.

NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said last week that he would seek a Constitutional Court verdict regarding the constitutionality of the bill only after it was clear that Prayut had not done so and had not submitted the bill for royal endorsement.

A group of NLA members had submitted a petition to Pornpetch requesting that he seek a court ruling on the matter on the assembly’s behalf.

Their petition pointed to certain clauses in the MP election bill that could be deemed unconstitutional, according to an NLA member who signed the petition. These included a provision that would deprive non-voters of their right to become political officials, and a clause that would allow election officials to assist disabled and elderly voters in casting their ballots.

Critics have warned that those provisions could be deemed unconstitutional and cause the next election to be declared void.

Life began returning to normal yesterday as longstanding political parties were allowed by the junta to update their party membership roles.

The parties had been forced to refrain from contacting their members since the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) issued its order banning political activities shortly after the coup in May 2014.

According to the NCPO No 53/2560 issued last December, existing political parties must ensure members confirm their party memberships between yesterday and April 30. Members who do not confirm their places during that short window will lose their status as party members.

The day was indeed eventful. Yesterday, the Democrat Party began the membership reaffirmation process at its headquarters with hundreds of the party’s former MPs and supporters flocking to outdoor tents stationed in the party office’s parking lot.

The day began with party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva reaffirming his membership via the mobile application D-Connect and paying a Bt2,000 lifetime party fee. Other members can pay as little as Bt100 to maintain their membership on an annual basis.

At least 556 people paid for lifetime fees while another 752 people paid the annual amount, reaching Abhisit’s goal of collecting at least Bt1-million in seed funding on the first day.

The country’s oldest party, which has about 2.5 million members according to the roles late last year, invited members to confirm their membership by showing up with required documents in hand at more than 300 party offices across the country, including at the party headquarters in Bangkok.

In remote areas and for elderly supporters, the party will send staff to visit members and collect the necessary documents, Democrat deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon said.

The Election Commission (EC) requires confirmations to include a copy of members’ personal IDs and household registrations, along with a letter of confirmations with signatures on three copies and receipts for the membership fees.

“The process is complicated, especially with the EC requiring all the documents be in a paper format. I wonder if we will have to carry a photocopying machine while we are visiting members? We are living in Thailand 4.0, aren’t we?” Ongart asked rhetorically, referring to the government’s initiative promoting technology in the economy.

Logistical issues

For its part, Pheu Thai Party is inviting former MPs and members to appear at its headquarters on Wednesday, coinciding with the party’s tradition of early celebrating the Thai New Year on that day. Members will pour water over the hands of senior figures and ask for a blessing, said Phumtham Wechayachai, acting secretary-general of Pheu Thai.

Phumtham Wechayachai

“It should not be regarded as a political gathering, which is still banned by the junta,” he said.

Pheu Thai has about 120,000 current members, with Phumtham voicing concern that parties would lose a large portion of their membership given the short period of time allowed for membership confirmation.

Bhum Jai Thai Party’s merit-making ceremony yesterday was held to bless its 10th anniversary as well as provide an opportunity for former MPs and members to reaffirm their status. The party currently has about 150,000 members nationwide.

Big parties’ call for members to confirm their status at party offices will not be expensive, but for a smaller party like Chart Thai Pattana, the cost of the operation will be higher. 

Bhum Jai Tai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul (left) receives a bouquet from Chart Thai Pattana Party adviser Varawut Silpa-archa (right) yesterday

With about 25,000 current members, Chart Thai Pattana has chosen to have its volunteers canvass door to door at targeted members’ residences in their main area of support, asking them to fill in a letter of confirmation, including paying the Bt100 fee, party adviser Varawut Silpa-archa said.

That approach will be used to target members in Suphan Buri, the party’s stronghold, where Varawut said he expected to get confirmation from all 4,000 members in the province.

For members in other areas, Varawut said Chart Thai Pattana would send letters by the mail, incurring high postal expenses.

The party has not figured out how members receiving the letter will pay the membership fee. The party will also be responsible for high costs incurred in sending receipts or other evidence of payments, Varawut added. The approach could cost the party Bt500,000 in total, he added.

“Simply speaking, from the Bt100 fee, we may get only Bt5 to Bt20 after deducting the operational costs,” he said.

The burden remains to convince members to pay the Bt100 fee as well as institute a workable mechanism for paying it, Varawut said, adding that especially for people living in provinces, Bt100 would be a considerable expense.

Such methods use new technology to transfer money on the Internet or mobile banking, which could be a barrier for some party supporters. Varawut said he was concerned that most of his party’s supporters lived in the provinces and would find it too inconvenient to go to banks or lacked smartphones to transfer money via PromptPay.

The Democrat Party recently launched a new mobile phone application that allows existing members to confirm their membership electronically, including transferring the membership fees through banks. However, the EC has yet to allow the use of the app.

Insights from a new book on the history of legal philosophy may prove helpful for people pondering potential solutions to the country’s prolonged political conflict and the highly sensitive lese majeste law.

“Prawatisart Kwamkid Nitipratchaya”, which can be translated as “The History of Legal Philosophy”, written by well-known legal academic Worachet Pakeerat, has come out at the right time.

The time is right because Thailand is in the process of transition from junta rule to an elected government, which is expected to be formed after general elections early next year.

Many people have blamed the Thai judicial system for facilitating the repeated military coups and it is equally a part of today’s deep political conflicts.

Many are intrigued why Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha continues to exercise the absolute power he enjoys under Article 44 of the interim constitution when there is a new Constitution already in place.

And many are also wondering whether Prayut could use his power under Article 44 even after the election, before a new government is sworn in.

Worachet’s book does not directly dwell on the current legal issues in Thailand, but readers might find answers in the book by applying its knowledge of legal philosophy to answer current or future issues.

And yes, during the book launch, the author did say that Prayut could continue to wield such broad powers.

More than that, readers will find themselves taken into the past, from the times of ancient Greece.

The book explains why Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers in ancient Greece, accepted the death penalty and turned down a chance to flee.

The dramatic event led to one of the key questions of legal philosophy regarding respecting the law and the principle of a court verdict.

The book also looks at the personal lives and ideas of many philosophers of law, including Gustav Radbruch, who was a well-known German legal philosopher in the 20th century and also Germany’s minister of justice during the early Weimar period.

German judges adopted the so-called Radbruch Formula to back their verdicts regarding unjust laws enforced during the Nazi era and unjust laws in the former East Germany before the unification of East and West Germany.

The Radbruch Formula in simple language states that laws may be unjust but they are legally binding, and that judges have to apply them. However, if those laws are “unbearably unjust”, then they are null and void and judges should not apply them.

German judges did not apply unjust laws enforced during the Adolf Hitler era to disputes that occurred during Nazi rule, but were brought to court after the end of World War II.

After German unification, the German court punished former eastern German soldiers who had shot dead those who tried to climb over the Berlin Wall to escape the communist state. The court dismissed the defence that their actions were in line with East German law so they were protected by those laws.

After reading about life and law theory, readers might wonder whether Thai judges one day will adopt such a theory and question some laws that have been a source of human rights abuses.

The lese majeste law is one, as many scholars argue that it has been used as a weapon to attack political opponents.

Worachet is a member of the Nitirat group, which previously campaigned for the amendment of Article 112 of the Penal Code, or lese majeste law, and has been the target of heavy criticism by conservatives for his stance on the issue.

His 500-page work may create a better understanding of the modern legal system and open wider debate on the merits and demerits of the Thai legal and judicial system.

While the Democrat Party, many of whose former MPs joined the whistle-blowing protests that preceded the 2014 coup, held firm that it would not support Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha remaining in office after the election, the Bhumjaithai Party was reluctant to make its position clear.

“Party members would have to support the party’s leader, whoever he or she will be. Those wanting to support Prayut should choose the other way and not come here. There are many parties that would endorse such support,” Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

Abhisit, however, did not rule out his party supporting any military representatives in the next elected government.

“We would have to see how the military would enter [politics] and how many votes they would have [in the parliament],” he said.

According to the junta-written 2017 charter, the Upper and Lower Houses would jointly nominate the prime minister, who could be an “outsider”, if MPs could not agree over a list of three candidates for the top job.

Given the charter-invented mixed-member apportionment electoral system, it is very likely that the majority of MPs will be from diverse medium-sized and small parties, and the major parties will have a hard time to gain a parliamentary majority.

Senators will not only be wholly handpicked by the junta, but some of the seats in the Senate will be reserved for top-ranking military officers.

Political observers have said that such a scenario would weaken the power of the major parties while empowering the military in post-election politics.

The Democrat Party’s headquarters in Bangkok yesterday was buzzing with hundreds of former MPs and supporters visiting to reaffirm their memberships.

More than 1,300 members were reaffirmed yesterday, a small number compared to the 2.5 million members nationwide who, in order to maintain its status, the party must reaffirm by the end of this month.

Abhisit also took the chance yesterday to announce the party’s agenda in what he called “the new era”.

Its new agenda would include more democratic processes at party level, including direct election of the party’s leaders via a mobile application.

“We’ll raise funds from members as much as possible and have branches covering all local areas. The party will belong to the people, not a few politicians with various and independent sources of income,” he said.

The event was also attended by Akanat Promphan, a former Democrat Party MP who works closely with his stepfather, Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the whistle-blowing People’s Democratic Reform Foundation (PDRF).

Akanat, whose membership of the party ended when he joined the monkhood in 2014, confirmed that he and the PDRF members would have no problem working with the Democrat Party, despite Suthep’s support for Prayut.

“We won’t have a condition of support for Prayut. I affirm to stay with the party and continue with our will to reform and make the party truly belong to the people,” Akanat said.

Meanwhile, Bhum Jai Thai Party yesterday held a merit-making ceremony to bless its 10th anniversary and to start the reaffirmation of its members.

Leader Anutin Charnvirakul said his party was ready to work within the current constitution and avoid any action that would create “further hurdles” for the country.

“We don’t believe prosperity can be brought about by conflicts. We view that every side has to respect the rules and the majority,” he said.

He did not rule out his party cooperating with the military blocs or even supporting Prayut remaining in the premiership.

“We will join with any party with the same ideology for the country’s peace and security,” he said.

“However, we don’t need to say anything to bind ourselves now.” 

 Bhum Jai Thai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul receives a blessing from guests to the party’s merit making ceremony yesterday

Those named in the complaint included Kan Pongpraphapan, Sirawith Seritiwat, Rangsiman Rome, Nattha Mahuttana, Ekachai Hongkanwan and Anon Nampa.

The complaint was made by Colonel Burin Thongprapai, a member of the NCPO’s legal department.

It was in response to last week’s demonstration in which protesters called for the army to stop supporting the NCPO as they marched from the Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus to the Royal Thai Army headquarters.

Most of the named demonstration leaders have been previously charged with several offences related to a series of protests calling for an election to be held this year.

Police officers reportedly were also mulling whether to charge the protesters for using amplifiers, resisting an officer’s orders, and assaulting officers. The latter relates to demonstrators breaking through officers lining up to block them from marching on the Army headquarters, resulting in a brief clash.

The decision was made after the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties filed a complaint that junta order No 53/60 was unconstitutional.

The junta order has amended two articles in the political party organic law.

One article requires party members to confirm their membership by submitting documents proving their qualifications within 30 days.

The other article requires parties to convene within 90 days of the political ban being lifted and set up at least four branches. At least 250 members must take part in the meeting.

The Ombudsman’s office secretary-general Rakkecha Chaechai said on Friday both amendments had constitutional issues.

They could be a deprivation of rights and could be a burden on political parties hence a ruling is being sought from the court, he said.

However, Rakkecha said the junta order by itself was legitimate. Only the amendments it had introduced raised problems related to constitutionality, he said.

The proposal made by the Cabinet sailed through the National Legislative Assembly without any debate on Thursday.

Critics said the country had constantly been in different phases of reform, a term popular with coup-installed governments. However, they hardly brought any substantial or tangible improvement to the country, they said.

Decharat Sukkamnoed, an economist from Kasetsart University, said Bt130 billion could be considered a lot of money, especially when compared with the budgets deployed by other governments, he said.

The economist said only the final results could show whether the expenditure would have been worth the money.

Reform to clean the country of corruption is always the buzzword for military leaders to topple elected governments.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the current junta leader, staged a coup in 2014 to oust the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra after street protests called for reforms.

The reform plan was embedded in the junta-sponsored Constitution and fundamentally was part of and shaped by the 20-year national strategy, also drawn up by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

Future governments in the next 20 years are obliged to carry out the reforms and maintain the national strategy, supervised by junta-appointed senators. Failing to comply could cost them their incumbency, according to the Constitution.

Unrealistic plan

Observers said the 20-year strategic plan is not realistic since it is hard for the country to look two decades ahead. Many politicians said they might not be able to implement the plan if they were elected to form the government.

Democrat leader and former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said recently that the strategic plan is a big burden on future governments, which he would seek to amend if his party won the election and formed the government.

The NCPO reform plan covers 11 aspects – from politics and economics to public health and energy.

National resources and environmental reform reportedly got the largest budget allocation at Bt34.77 billion.

According to the report by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, it aimed to conserve, restore, and improve forest areas and land plots as well as to support organic farming.

Coming second was the public administration reform, with an allocation of Bt33.41 billion.

The plan aimed to improve public service and its efficacy and transparency using more technology. This is to boost the convenience of people using the service.

While the entire reform scheme proposed by the junta was largely a result of the political conflict that led to the coup, political reforms received the lowest budget, at Bt221.85 million. The money would be allocated to improve political literacy, create new political culture, increase decentralisation, and other training, according to the proposal.

Government Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd explained the proposal was a normal work plan of public administration. The budget would be taken from several sources related to each reform aspect, he said.

“Some of that will be from different agencies. Some will get a special budget,” he explained. “It is not the total sum of Bt130 billion all at once.”

Unlike the current junta, the previous coup rulers in 2006 were in power for only one year and did not map out any clear long-term plan. The coup itself cost the national budget Bt500 million. However, many reform committees set up by past governments, elected or military-backed ones, have spent billions of baht for their reform agendas. Many of the plans failed to be implemented effectively.

Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said he was not convinced.

“He can say whatever he likes. The media may believe what he says. But if you ask me, I don’t believe it,” he said, when asked to comment on Thaksin’s claim.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, before his flight to Vietnam, was also asked to comment on the ongoing trip of Thaksin and Yingluck to Tokyo. Prayut just smiled and offered no response.

During an interview with Japanese media on Thursday, Thaksin said: “We have many good people in Pheu Thai Party. They should be able to lead the party to another landslide victory.”

However, Thaksin also attempted to distance himself from the party, saying that he had no involvement with the party. “I am not involved with the party. They really don’t want me to get involved.

“We wish we can return to democracy as soon as possible. Thailand needs a system that allows free speech and guarantees human rights to the people. In this modern economy, you need democracy to allow more creativity to happen in Thailand,” he told Japanese media.

The new Political Parties Act prohibits any political party from allowing an outsider to influence its internal affairs and the violating parties risk getting dissolved.

Some Pheu Thai figures expressed concern recently after reports that a group of party politicians met Thaksin to ask him who should become the next Pheu Thai leader. They feared a possible legal action could lead to the party’s dissolution.

Thaksin holds no executive position in Pheu Thai but has retained much influence in the party, still being referred to as “the big boss” by many party politicians.

He and his sister Yingluck, both fugitives who live in self-exile abroad, arrived in Japan on Thursday and are set to stay there through tomorrow before travelling to China, Japanese media reported. It is their second visit to Japan this year following the previous one in February.

Former Japanese politician Hajime Ishii, an acquaintance of the siblings, invited them to an event in Tokyo to celebrate the publication of his new book, Kyodo news agency reported. They were introduced on stage and photographed with other guests.

Yingluck, when asked by a reporter whether she was living in London, replied: “No. We are just travelling to different countries.” She declined to answer a question if she had been given political asylum to stay in the United Kingdom, simply saying: “Sorry, sorry.” Thaksin’s daughter Paethongtarn said in her Instagram message that Thaksin was excited to join the event, adding that he had been invited by the host “long ago”.

General Prawit, who is in charge of security affairs, said yesterday that Thai authorities were in the process of seeking the arrest of both Thaksin and Yingluck for prosecution in the country.

He said the authorities had to inform their Japanese counterpart that the court cases against Thaksin and Yingluck were not political in nature.