The issue was being hotly debated at the National Legislative Assembly meeting today before the NLA called on the debate to continue tomorrow as it could not reach a resolution on the issue.

The NLA’s law vetting committee has added clauses concerning the new power, but some who drafted the original law including Meechai see mainly disadvantages in granting additional surveillance powers.

People’s human rights and right to privacy are on the line, according to Meechai, who previously warned the NLA members that they could be specific targets of future tapping.

“Although they have to ask permission from the court, they would have 90 days to wiretap a hundred individuals and so on, just to try to catch one wrongdoer. It might be fun for the chasers, but not for those whose rights are violated,” said Meechai.

Meechai said the Constitution Drafting Commission would not be able to say anything much about the issue, if anything, until the joint law review panel is set up after the law has passed three readings.

“The two sides will strictly obstruct and suppress any movement detected to be a mutual threat,” said Thai Defence Ministry Spokesperson Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich. “Such problems will reduce stability, security and the quality of both countries’ people.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan met with Lt-General Chansamone Chanyalath, Lao National Defence Minister in Vientiane, during the 24th Thai-Lao General Border Committee (GBC) Meeting.

Laos has been known to be the unofficial sanctuary of Thai political fugitives, notably Wuttipong “Ko Tee” Kottham-makhun, who went into self-exile shortly after the 2014 coup.

While there has been a rumour denied by Thai authorities that Wuttipong was killed this year, his name was still linked to a series of weapon caches, which police claimed were intended to be used in attacks in Bangkok.

The GBC meeting also covered cooperation on border controls to deal with illegal immigration and the trafficking of drugs and restricted goods.

Political parties have been frozen since the 2014 coup following the junta’s ban against political assemblies of five or more people.

As a result, political parties have been unable to mobilise ahead of the election currently scheduled for November.

Paiboon planned to file a letter with junta head Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday to “maintain national peace and order” until the election and the Election Commission endorses its result.

Paiboon has been preparing to set up a party with the clear agenda to support Prayut as prime minister after the election.

He will also file another letter with Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, president of the National Legislative Assembly, on Friday to seek a legal means to suspend the primary voting system.

The primary system, which would require all parties to internally elect their MP candidates in designated constituencies, has raised concerns among politicians that it could reduce the parties’ power and empower backstage players supporting each candidate.

HEATED debate is expected during today’s National Legislative Assembly (NLA) deliberations over the anti-graft bill, after the vetting committee reviewed several controversial issues, including authorising the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to wiretap phone calls.

The vetting committee said the authorisation would enhance efforts to fight corruption, but legislators have expressed concern that such “excessive authority” could be an infringement of rights and might even violate the Constitution.

Sources in the NLA have said the NACC might not need such authority as several other agencies, such as the Department of Special Investigation and the Narcotics Control Board, could conduct wiretaps with court permission.

The NACC’s claim that it needed such powers to find evidence about fraud or in cases involving unusually rich suspects was not merited, NLA sources said.

The agency had successfully tackled such cases without infringing on rights, one source said, pointing to the case of former Transport permanent secretary Supoth Saplom, who was accused of unusual wealth and prosecuted in the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The source also said the Criminal Code would soon be revised to set conditions allowing phone eavesdropping, making it even more unnecessary for the NACC to have the authority included in its organic law.

The controversial issue is expected to be considered in the chamber today.

Presently, there are 10 laws that allow wiretapping, including the controversial computer crime law.General Singhsuek Singhprai

General Singhsuek Singhprai, an NLA whip member, said the NACC had proposed the new authority on the grounds that it fit with international norms where other corruption-fighting agencies had the authority to wiretap phones.

In Thailand, investigative agencies, including the Anti-Money Laundering Office, are allowed to conduct wiretaps, so NACC officials claimed they should also have the authority, especially as some of their cases involved money laundering.

The NACC had a number of cases it could not resolve and wiretapping authority would be helpful to its work, the NACC stated.

Singhsuek said the vetting committee had considered the matter carefully, especially aspects of invasion of piracy. He added that the controversial practice would only be employed against suspects accused of fraud whom the NACC considered guilty and would “strictly follow” procedures. Wissanu Krea-ngam

Amid the criticism, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday the bill had not been finalised and there could be further revisions before the NLA passed it.

If the issue is not resolved in the NLA meeting today, a joint committee would have to be set up to review the bill, he said.

The bill will be forwarded to relevant agencies, such as the Constitution Drafting Commission and the NACC, for a final review after it passes through the NLA. Those bodies will have the authority to call for a joint committee to consider revisions if they disagree with aspects of the bill.

The Constitutional Court also had the authority to rule whether the stipulation was constitutional, Wissanu said, adding that the process should not take too long to conclude even if the issue escalates and a petition is filed with the court.

Wissanu also added that other agencies had similar powers to wiretap phone calls, given court permission.

The NLA today reportedly will deliberate the controversial bill consecutively in the second and third readings.

Hot-button issues in the new bill

– The NACC could have the authority to wiretap phone calls or any other communication in fraud cases, which has raised a controversy over invasion of privacy.

– Unmarried partners of people declaring assets and liabilities to the NACC could be required to also declare their assets. However, it is unclear how authorities could prove the status of “partners”.

– The current commissioners could be allowed to continue their tenure regardless of qualifications set by the Constitution, prompting people to question not only the constitutionality of the clause but also the connection between the commissioners and the ruling junta.

– In addition to politicians, all civil servants could be required to report assets and liabilities to the NACC, prompting concern that this would unnecessarily add to the workload of the busy agency.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday said he would exercise his absolute powers under Article 44 to amend the Political Party Act to give parties more time to proceed with “administrative tasks”, including updating their party membership, given the current tight deadline of January 5.

The issue has been intensified by the junta’s political ban maintained since the 2014 coup. Chaturon Chaisang

Key Pheu Thai Party figure Chaturon Chaisang said the Article 44 order would focus on trivial elements, while not allowing parties to perform important tasks that required meetings.

“This special order shows that the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] does not respect even its own [political party] law,” the former deputy prime minister said. “It is meant to only soften blows against itself while the agenda to keep down parties still remains.”

While the junta government also said on Tuesday that the political ban could be lifted next June, when the MP election bill might be promulgated, Chaturon said that would leave only five months for parties to organise everything before the election.

“Policy-making, for instance, requires a lot of time ahead of election campaigns. It doesn’t just come out of the blue,” he said.

Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, an expert on political parties at Chulalongkorn University, also said the absolute order seemed “too trivial to be true”, adding that it could be involved with a hidden agenda.

“It could be the NCPO’s signal to put even more pressure on parties to play by their set of rules,” Siripan said. “The use of Article 44 should be for something significant, not trivial. After all, their [the NCPO’s leaders] ultimate goal will be to bring parties to support them in power after the election either way.”

Abhisit Vejjajiva

Other political heavyweights, including Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, expressed frustration that the latest order was unclear about what extent parties could or could not do.

Although his party was not troubled by the Article 44 order, the NCPO needed to ensure that it would provide fair and clear conditions for all parties equally, Abhisit said. “I don’t think this is to buy time for [the power-that-be] to set up new parties, as every party has to follow the same timeline,” he said. “It shouldn’t affect [the junta’s] road map either.”

Nikorn Chamnong, Chart Thai Pattana Party director, agreed that the new order needed to state clearly what was allowed given that the political party law stipulated several different timelines for parties.

“It should also be considered in light of the political party system, rather than merely the election, as well as people’s rights as party members,” he said.

Meanwhile, National Legislative Assembly (NLA) Vice President Surachai Liengboonlertchai has indicated the body was open to amending the law by the normal legislative process.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the extension would be done in steps with the first 90 days allocated for updating party member lists.

He insisted that the amendment will benefit everyone who wanted to enter politics. The amendment will see an extension of the period of time political parties need to prepare themselves ahead of the election.

These activities include updating and registration of party membership, and for new parties, the opportunity to seek founders, raise funds and register their parties.

Wissanu said the extension would be done in steps. The first 90 days would be for updating lists of party members.

“The NCPO needs to open the political floor equally for everyone,” Abhisit said. “State authority should not be exercised to favour any specific political bloc.”

He spoke after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha revealed on Tuesday that he would soon use his absolute power under Article 44 to launch an order to allow parties to run “administrative tasks” in line with the political party bill.

The order will also amend some articles in the bill to extend timelines required for parties to prepare themselves for next year’s election.

Abhisit said that it was not his concern that the upcoming order would give prospective parties the privilege to hold a one-time meeting but not allow existing parties to do so.

“There are always new parties emerging in every election. The only thing is that they should play fairly by the system,” he said.

Abhisit said he believed that this NCPO order did not aim to buy time to delay the election. “This is just first step of preparation for the parties. There is no reason it should affect the NCPO’s road map [to democracy],” he added.

The page, “All Thais Love Lung Pom”, referring to Prawit’s nickname, drew 3,000 followers and a number of comments before the Defence Ministry came forward to deny that Prawit owned it.

The ministry said Prawit has no Facebook page.

“It’s not General Prawit’s page or his working group’s, because General Prawit has no policy to have a Facebook page,” said spokesperson Lt-General Koncheep Tantrawanich. “It could be ill-intentioned to create confusion and misunderstanding about General Prawit.”

Koncheep called on the administrators to close the page and said social-media users should use their judgement about information found online.

Meechai Ruchupan, head of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), yesterday warned such a move could have an adverse effect on legislators if it is allowed. Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, president of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), admitted the power could affect people’s rights and legislators would have to seriously consider such an infringement of rights.

The reaction came after a vetting committee agreed initially to authorise the NACC, in the new organic law governing the agency, to tap the phone calls of politicians, government officials and other people to enhance their graft-fighting work.

The proposal is in addition to the committee’s other controversial proposals, including a refusal to reset the membership of the whole NACC.

NLA ‘negatively affected’

Meechai said such power could be considered unconstitutional, given that the new Constitution of 2017 protects the rights and freedoms of citizens.

The issue had nothing to do with recruiting capable people but with empowering the committee, he said.

The NACC would have excessive power that would have a long-lasting impact that was inappropriate, he added.

He said that if the NLA insists on the stipulation, it could have a negative impact on NLA members.

Pornpetch conceded that the stipulation could affect rights and freedoms, although violations of the law needed to be taken into consideration.

Eavesdropping might be necessary within the law, he said, adding that the Computer Crime Act allowed similar operations.

Independent political scientist Chamnan Chanruang said wiretapping could be allowed by law, but he added that it should only be a temporary measure and authorities should not eavesdrop on people all of the time.

He said evidence gained from phone tapping was inadmissible in court if the operation had not been legally approved previously.

Asked whether it could be considered an infringement of rights, Chamnan said that while privacy is very important, the public interest had to be the number one priority.