Prime Minister Prayut, in his capacity as head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), exercised his power under the special powers specified by Article 44 embedded in the new charter.

Somchai’s termination as an Election Commission member became effective yesterday, when the junta chief’s order was announced in the Royal Gazette.

The order also stated that any other EC member who reaches the retirement age of 70 shall be able to continue his work until a new set of election commissioners take over from the current EC members.

The order said that Somchai had carried out inappropriate behaviour by causing public confusion in his remarks with the media about the election process. Also, Somchai was in conflict of interest by applying to become EC secretary-general without resigning from his current post, it added.

Initially, acting EC secretary-general Jarungwit Phumma said four election commissioners made a valid quorum. He said the EC could still make decisions with four commissioners under the previous law.

However, he said he was not sure how many people it took to make a quorum under the new law, where the EC has seven members.

The station reported on Tuesday that the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) had ordered it, using an administrative measure, to suspend its broadcasting of the programme at any time for 15 days, and not to rerun the banned episodes either.

The order, signed by NBTC secretary-general Thakorn Tantasit and dated March 19, elaborated that the March 1 episode of “Tonight Thailand”, having discussed the French Revolution, was inappropriate and did not fit local circumstances.

The presentation could lead to confusion, sedition and division within the Kingdom, and the alleged action violated the junta’s orders, the order read.

The news talk show also infringed the conditions that Voice TV had agreed with the NBTC in June 2014, less than two weeks after the military coup.

The NBTC at the time had summoned the station’s executives to clarify its news programmes – not only “Tonight Thailand”, but also the morning news talk show, “Wake up Thailand” – that presented controversial issues.

The NBTC called for the station to be careful about its presentations.

Voice TV had been hit with similar orders to the one issued on Monday several times since the military seized power in 2014.

The station’s executive, Mekit Petchplai, released a statement on Tuesday announcing that it would petition the order with the Administrative Court, as well as file a civil action against the NBTC.

In the statement, Mekin also complained that Voice TV had always been under strict scrutiny by both the NBTC and the ruling National Council for Peace and Order.

The inspection by the NBTC and its order to stop the broadcast affect the station both as a business and a media outlet, he said.

He questioned whether the treatment was fair and lawful and insisted on the station’s right to maintain its role as an open media outlet.

The executive called for fellow media operators to also come forward and help protect media freedom as challenged by the NBTC order.

Described by some observers as being full of hipsters, and mostly young urban people, Future Forward has been slapped down in some quarters as not being able to connect to the mass grass-roots voters outside Bangkok and the main provincial towns.

But the political-enthusiast billionaire insisted he had 10 months before the election, and was taking it seriously as no current players could represent his interest in politics.

Thanathorn made the remarks on Monday in an interview on Facebook Live with alternative online news outlet The Standard, five days after the party had made its official launch, which rocked the media and the country’s ‘old’ politics.

He expressed his aspiration not to be part of a ruling coalition, but to form a single-party government.

However, if that ambition was unrealised, he said he would join a coalition under one condition: that the partner party must sign a memorandum of understanding with Future Forward accepting certain terms and conditions.

The Future Forward leader said the party would then be ready to walk out if the partner in the coalition broke the contract.

He would be ready to be the opposition party, too, he said, adding that he understood very well that it would take time to make the changes he wanted to see.

Thanathorn, for the first time, also officially refuted a lese-majeste allegation against him.

It had started with the so-called “lese-majeste chart” presented by then-government officials during the political demonstration in 2010, he said.

Thanathorn’s name was on the chart and a reputation of his being critical of the monarchy had persisted ever since, he explained.

However, the problematic chart has since been proved untrue, he stressed, and the government official who had publicised it at the time had already revealed that it was a made-up story.

The chart had also suggested he had a connection with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and Thanathorn’s uncle, Suriya.

Thanathorn has been viewed as “the next Thaksin” too, given his background and political ambition. However, the billionaire businessman refuted the comment, pointing out that his business and Thaksin’s were different.

“I met my uncle once a year at the annual family gathering and we only asked each other about our well-being,” he said during the interview.

“And as for Thaksin, I met him the last time more than 10 years ago when he visited my ailing father. We haven’t been in contact since,” he added.

Thanathorn admitted that he had invested Bt200,000 with a friend to launch the highly controversial publishing house Same Sky Books, which is often alleged to have printed books critical of the monarchy.

However, the investment was made out of his earnest intention to make possible a social-science journal, he insisted.

“And there’s nothing illegal about the publishing house. It is still operational until today,” he said. “If it was lese majeste, it would have been closed down.”

The Future Forward leader also disclosed some ideas about his party’s policies.

Firstly, the party would overturn all concession deals, liberate the trades and lift the restrictions that hindered businesses today, he said.

Then, it would restructure the country by decentralising it.

And lastly, it would give opportunity to new-generation people and encourage them to be creative, including in the area of the gaming industry in which many young people are interested, he told The Standard.

Early this month, National Legislative Assembly president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai inspected the site in Kiak Kai and learned that more than 50 per cent of construction work had been completed.

The new compound could be ready for use by the time that new MPs and senators arrive next year, he said at the time, referring to the expected holding of a general election in February.

The meeting hall for the House of Representatives would be completed around March next year, while the meeting hall for the Senate would be completed by the end of this year, he said.

If that was the case, parliamentarians could move in and work at the new Parliament complex following the national poll, Pornpetch expected.

Pakpoom Srichamni, a Sino-Thai executive, said the company had been expediting the construction work and expected to deliver most of the compound by the end of this year.

There is no significant change to the design, including the parking lot which will accommodate around 3,000 vehicles, he added.

NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon said on Tuesday that the panel had received a 38-page letter, which explains all the 25 watches that were seen on Prawit’s wrist on various occasions but were not reported as assets to the NACC as required by law.

However, Worawit said, the probe was not yet complete because the panel needed to talk to two more witnesses. Also, the companies that imported the watches have not yet submitted evidence to the panel.

Worawit said the panel would submit its initial findings to the NACC so that it could consider the case and suggest to the panel what else needs to be done in the investigation. This possibly includes inviting Prawit to meet the panel in person, he said.

Ticha announced on Facebook on Tuesday that she would submit a letter the next day to NACC president Pol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit, urging him to take legal action against General Prawit, who has been seen wearing 25 different watches with a combined value of nearly Bt30 million.

Ticha initiated a petition at Change.org on January 31 to press Prawit to keep his promise to step down if citizens no longer wanted him in government.

As of February 15, 80,018 people had backed the petition calling for the minister to resign from the Cabinet. Ticha presented the results to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

On Tuesday, Ticha posted that Prawit had submitted his fourth written explanation about the origin of the watches to the NACC last week, yet it remained unclear whether the agency would summon him for a meeting or take any other action.

“Society is curious about the NACC’s action on this case,” Ticha wrote.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), she said, activists would stage a symbolic demonstration at NACC headquarters to indicate that delayed action is unjust and to reaffirm that Prawit must resign.

INTENTIONALLY or not, the legislative assembly’s decision not to seek a Constitutional Court verdict as to whether the MPs election bill is constitutional seems to be a time bomb that could eventually affect the entire political road map.

After recently passing bills on the election of MPs and selection of Senators – the last two organic laws required for holding an election – the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) resolved to seek a court decision only on the constitutionality of the Senate selection legislation.

The decision was made despite views pointing to certain “problematic” points in the election bill and warnings of a legal tangle that could severely affect the election schedule if relevant authorities are forced to seek a Constitutional Court verdict on the bill’s constitutionality at the last minute.

NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said the assembly had decided to seek a court verdict only on the bill about the Senate selection because it did not want to cause a further delay to the election. Following repeated postponements, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha promised last month that the election would be held “no later than” February next year.

Pornpetch added that a Constitutional Court ruling could also be sought for the election bill by any relevant agency, including the Election Commission, in the future.

There is a risk that the next election could be postponed indefinitely if the Constitutional Court rules that the bill on Senate selection is unconstitutional. And the risk could be even higher if, in the future, the bill on the election of MPs is also brought to the court.

Article 148 of the Constitution states that any bill shall lapse if the Constitutional Court decides that it has provisions that are contrary to or inconsistent with the Constitution, or it is enacted contrary to the constitutional clauses that such provisions of the bill form an essential element thereof.

If the court rules the Senate bill unconstitutional, there will not only be a further delay to the next election but also a severe impact on the core of the political road map.

A bill that is found to be unconstitutional needs to be redrafted from the beginning. And the Constitution may need to be amended, as no current clause states clearly who would do the job of drafting the legislation. The term of the existing Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which has been responsible for writing all the organic laws required by the Constitution, ends as soon as the last such legislation is promulgated.

Also, the charter does not state in detail when such an amendment should be completed or the drafting of a new bill finished.

As a result, the ruling junta would, in effect, get a blank cheque on matter.

If the blow from a court verdict on the Senate selection bill is not enough to disrupt the road map, a new legal headache caused by the election bill might prove to be the second blow in a one-two punch.

NLA member Kittisak Rattanawaraha yesterday reiterated his warning that certain clauses in the election law could cause the election to be ruled void. He pointed to a clause that allowed disabled and frail elderly voters to be assisted in casting their ballots, adding that this was against the constitutional requirement that voting must be done in secret.

Meanwhile, authorities have admitted that omitting the MPs election bill from the Constitutional Court petition was a risk. If, in the future, the case were brought to court, the election would inevitably be affected, they implied.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday that after the promulgation, it was no longer possible for authorities to lodge a petition unless a lawsuit regarding the bill’s constitutionality had already occurred. That was a risk, he admitted.

The CDC has expressed its desire for the Cabinet to seek a court ruling if the NLA does not do so. Wissanu said the matter had not yet been discussed by the government, but Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha had the authority to take the issue to the court.

After the NLA submits the bill to the prime minister, the law would be held for five days in case anyone, including politicians, wanted to challenge it, Wissanu said.

After that period, the Cabinet would have another 20 days to decide if they wanted to seek a court ruling over the bill’s constitutionality, he said. If not, the bill would be submitted for royal endorsement.

The concern over the petition now lies with its impact on the election road map. Wissanu said that a ruling over legality usually did not take a long time and, although the election could be postponed, it would not be for a long period of time.

Udom Rathamarit, a legal expert and constitutional drafter, yesterday said the main priority should be to ensure the clarity of the law before the election.

“The impact on the road map is worrisome and the NLA may have considered that. But if we enforce the law and people are affected, I’m not sure if they will complain with the court or if the election will be nullified,” Udom said.

With Thanathorn having launched the much-hyped new progressive party Future Forward and Sombat leading recent protests against the junta, the pair put down their megaphones for a moment to assault each other’s fortresses – although the competitive event might have involved a more covert attack as well.

“Hitting the fortresses”, or tee pom in Thai, was the main theme of the gaming event, which attracted more than 2,000 viewers during a one-hour Facebook Live broadcast. While tee means hit, Pom is the nickname of Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, a senior government figure in the ruling junta who has been hit by a scandal after being seen in possession of dozens of luxury watches.

Whether the pair were mocking the junta leader or not, they used the gaming event not only to wage online war but also discussed the future of the digital industry in the “Thailand 4.0” era.

“The force of the modern game industry is very economically powerful in Thailand. Yet it remains largely underrated,” said Thanathorn, the 39-year-old automobile tycoon whose party launch last week has created a great deal of public enthusiasm. “If there is no adjustment of the fundamental economic structure, what will happen is Thai people will become unemployed and turn into technology slaves,” he said. “But we also have an option of becoming masters of technology.”

The solution was to build an economy that capitalised on the younger generation’s potential “to take control of the machines, which more and more will replace manpower. They can be programmers or robot coders, for instance.”

The gaming industry could be a good gateway for young people to access technology. With a cautious approach to develop the industry, marketing demand and supply would follow and eventually create a sound ecosystem, he said.

“Game, AI and virtual reality creators will be drawn into this system,” he said. “It may not happen fast but this should gradually turn younger generations to become absorbed with technologies and develop themselves accordingly.”

With more local demand and supply being generated, Thailand would be more self-reliant in terms of technology and generated more added-value domestic industries, he said.

“We have gamers with high potential who have won several international battles,” he added.

“If we had more local demand, we would be able to make more products. With market platforms and the proper investment of time and knowledge, the young generation will always be able to come up with new creativity.”

The first generation of the PDRC, of which Suthep was one of nine members, have been charged with insurrection and terrorism, as well as up to nine other charges following their role in leading a series of protests during 2014.

However, 14 other leaders of the second generation of the PDRC also face similar charges, despite the fact that some of them had merely joined the original members on the stage.

Suthep, while checking evidence at the Criminal Court today, said he would like to petition the court to consider charging each leader based on the wrongdoings he or she had actually committed.

And if possible, prosecutors should withdraw their indictments against these people and revisit their alleged wrongdoings before filing new charges based on those acts, Suthep proposed.

Pornpetch, who is also president of the National Legislative Assembly, said this was 20 days earlier than the 90 days allowed for by law, after the first-round selection of seven commissioner candidates in total was shot down by the NLA late last month.

The NLA had voted overwhelmingly in a closed-door meeting to turn down all the candidates put forward by the selection committee and the Supreme Court.

The EC law sets out that the commission will comprise seven members. Five are to be chosen by a selection committee, while the remaining two are to be picked by a meeting of the Supreme Court.

The seven original candidates would have filled vacancies in the EC, the key agency responsible for holding elections.

An NLA source said after the assembly’s vote that legislators had raised questions over the suitability of the candidates as there were complaints about all of them.

In addition, the selection of the other two candidates by the Supreme Court was also found to be controversial, he said at the time.

After the NLA’s rejection of the seven candidates, it had to submit a letter to the Supreme Court notifying it of the voting results and calling for it to begin its part in the selection process again.

The court, meanwhile, has issued a new regulation to make its selection process for two of the new EC members more clear.

The court will hold a meeting on April 26 to select two commissioner candidates before submitting the names to the NLA, a source at the court said.