AS THE clock ticks down to election day, the ruling junta has warned it might not lift political restrictions soon because the recent discovery of active military weapons could mean that the country is once again “being targeted for an attack”.

An academic, however, believes the latest weapons discovery might be an attempted distraction by a junta government facing declining popularity and keen to ensure its continued grip on power, soon after its troubled trip to the South. Deputy PM and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday claimed that intelligence indicated that “some movements” had started, which could make it difficult to lift its ban on political activity.

“But we also can’t maintain the political ban [forever]. We may lift it when the election is coming close,” Prawit said.

The junta placed political restrictions against political gatherings of five or more people shortly after its 2014 coup, resulting in all politics-related activities, including party meetings, being prohibited. 

A call to lift the ban is growing as the election, scheduled for next November, draws near. Many organic laws for the election have already promulgated and only two, on the selection of the Senate and the election of members of the house representatives, are to be discussed at the National Legislative Assembly. 

Paiboon Nititawan

Weapons ‘linked to previous cache’

Prawit, meanwhile, spoke after the recent discovery of a large cache of active military weapons in Chachoengsao, purportedly stored in preparation for an attack in the capital.

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Srivara Ransibhramanakul on Thursday linked the weapons to an extremist political group led by Wuttipong “Ko Tee” Kottham-makhun, who has reportedly gone missing.

Srivara said an initial examination of the weapons indicated they were from the same batch as those used in at least three attacks in 2014 in Bangkok and metropolitan areas. A search has been ordered for 53-year-old Wattana Sapwichian regarding the original discovery.

Yesterday, Prawit confirmed that the weapons belonged to the same batch as Wuttipong’s but said further updates would be provided by police.

He also defended his reference to the weapons discovery and said it was not staged to legitimise the junta government’s control over security when it was facing declining popularity. “We’re not going down. We have been criticised a lot but we can still work just fine. It’s nothing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Paiboon Nititawan, former junta-appointed member of the defunct National Reform Council, yesterday failed to register his People’s Reform Party with the Election Commission as a result of the junta’s political ban.

Paiboon’s movement attempted to follow the political party bill, which requires parties to update their memberships within 90 days of the law’s enforcement in early October. But several parties have been unable to do so, given the lingering political ban. The junta has assured them that they would manage “one way or another” to make ends meet, including possible use of Article 44.

The People’s Reform Party, which claims to be ready with 117 members across the country, has had its registration rejected by the EC. However, Paiboon said he would be happy to proceed again once the ban is lifted. Set up with a clear agenda to support PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to retain his premiership, the party was also ready to compete in the junta-created primary voting system to yield MP candidates, he added.

Chamnan Chanruang, an independent political observer, said the weapons find was clearly a “red herring” at just the time the military-installed government faced an image crisis.

On the continued political ban, Chamnan said that the use of the newer laws, such as the political party bill, should technically disable the ban and allow political parties to function normally. “This is a fundamental principle of law. We academics also stress this point when petitioning the court,” he said.

The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) had insisted the controversial cross-election of the senators would prevent poll fraud but said it could yield up a better method if any.

Chief charter writer Meechai Ruchupan represented the CDC to present the bill to the NLA. He said that the new election method, in which members of professional guilds would choose senators to protect their interests in the Upper House, had attracted wide attention from voters.

He went on to say that the system would allow better public participation. Also, he insisted that it had been designed to plug holes enabling election fraud in line with the new Constitution.

But if any better systems were proposed by the NLA, the CDC might not disagree, Meechai said.

NLA members could choose to accept the principles and agree that the cross-election would increase public participation. However, they expressed concern on Thursday that the approach would fail to block a connection between political parties and the Senate.

They said it was still possible that parties would field candidates to contest the spots reserved for various occupational guilds.

However, the bill was passed with 177 votes in favour, one opposed, and 10 abstentions. One legislator chose not cast a vote.

The NLA appointed 27 legislators to deliberate on the bill before the second and the third readings. The NLA has 60 days to complete deliberation of the bill.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday night led his fifth Cabinet to take the oath of office before King Rama X at the Amphorn Satharn Villa in the Dusit Palace.

Deputy Education Minister Udom Kachintorn said His Majesty the King told the Cabinet members to help take care of security beyond political stability. The security mentioned by the King, he added, included every aspect of people’s lives, including food security, public safety, as well as happiness.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn told them to use wisdom to guide their acts, something that the deputy minister said he has adopted and would adapt to his work at the ministry.

“It’s something that we will look back on, whether we taught our people to develop and possess it throughout their lives,” said Udom.

Science and Technology Minister Suwit Maesincee said His Majesty the King blessed all Cabinet members, wishing them success in working for the country.

The Cabinet members embraced his speech and will adapt it to their work, he said.

Suwit said the country is now moving towards the Thailand 4.0 policy and he as the science and technology minister would steer it toward tangible results in technology and innovations.

Agriculture Minister Krisada Boonrat, said His Majesty the King gave guidance to be determined to work for the country, while having security and people’s happiness in mind.

“Some groups of people have started to move. If it goes on like this, lifting the political ban is hard,” Prawit said. “But we also can’t maintain the political ban [forever]. We may lift it closer to election.”

The deputy PM also spoke after a recent discovery of a large cache of active military weapons in Chachoengsao province, purportedly stored in preparation for an attack in the capital.

Deputy national police chief Pol General Srivara Ransibhramanakul on Thursday linked the weapons to an extremist political group led by Wuttipong “Ko Tee” Kottham-makhun.

An initial examination of the weapons, according to Srivara, indicated they were from the same batch as those used in at least three attacks in 2014 in Bangkok and metropolitan areas.

He is on the lookout for 53-year-old Wattana Sapwichian, regarded as a “person of interest” regarding the discovered weapons.

On Friday, Prawit reiterated that the weapons belonged to the same batch as Wuttipong’s, but further investigations should be updated by police.

He denied the weapons discovery was being staged to legitimise the junta government’s controls over security at a time when it is facing a popularity crisis.

“We’re not going down. We have been criticised a lot but we can still work fine. It’s nothing,” he added.

Agriculture Minister Krisada Boonrat said he was not sure whether key farm produce, including rubber and rice, were affected by politics, but what is certain is their plunging prices are a problem for farmers.

The ministers said they would help one another to lift the prices of farm produce, especially rubber, within their first three months in office.

Measures and planning to stabilise the prices and ensure farm competitiveness and security would be their long-term focus, he said.

“It’s always our farmers’ problems – they grow rubber, rice and so on and lose profits. The challenge is how we can stop such an endless cycle,” said Krisada.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Luck Wajananawat said farm cooperatives or groupings need to be strengthened to improve farm competitiveness and security.

Farmers should have tools to help regulate their produce and increase competitiveness, including their own silos as well as community-based business.

Negotiation power, he said, should be drawn back from merchants and put in farmers’ hands.

Wiwat Salyakamthorn, another deputy minister, said he was assigned to help handle fundamental infrastructure including irrigation. Wiwat said he would adopt His Majesty the late King Rama IX’s royal projects and guidance to the ministry’s work, including irrigation, especially for those outside the irrigated area.

The Kok Nong Na Model is his famed water management model adapted from the late King, under which sources of water are linked to hilly forests and fields, which help sustain the whole system.

Paiboon held a press conference to explain the situation, but said he would try to register his party with the EC again once the ban is lifted.

The junta had placed the ban shortly after the coup, resulting in all political-related activities, including party meetings, being prohibited. A call to lift the ban is growing as time draws nearer for the election scheduled for late next year.

The EC, meanwhile, issued an announcement in regard to party registration, but later learned it could not take any proposals because of the ban.

Paiboon said his party was ready to engage in politics, as it has 117 founder members around the country and they were ready to proceed with political activities once allowed.

The party is also ready to send candidates in a primary vote, as well as MP candidates, Paiboon added.

Paiboon said one of the party’s key policies is to support Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to be the premier again while calling for reform to empower the people as well as a sound checks and balances system.

The bill in principle sailed through the chamber with 189 votes to zero, with five abstentions and two no-votes.

Under the Constitution, the NLA has 60 days to deliberate the draft bill through to a third-reading conclusion after being forwarded it by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC).

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan on Thursday presented the bill to the NLA on behalf of the CDC.

He stressed that the bill had been revised in line with suggestions made by members of the public, the Election Commission (EC), and the NLA, to ensure free and fair elections.

The new organic bill includes several strict rules. Eligible citizens who failed to vote would be punished by being denied the right to run in elections for parliament, the Senate or even for local government for two years, Meechai noted.

As well, every vote would truly matter under the new organic law, he said. Even a voter’s choice to not vote for any of the candidates would count, he said. If the no-votes won in any constituency, a by-election would be held and those candidates who had lost would be banned from running for the second round, Meechai said.

MP candidates were also required under the bill to present records of past tax payments when applying to run for election, he said.

Meechai said that the CDC had also empowered the EC to be more proactive. They now had the authority to reschedule an election if any irregularities were found.

Meechai emphasised that those found guilty in corruption cases would not be qualified to run in an election.

After the first reading on Thursday, a committee of 33 members was appointed to vet the proposed legislation.

Brief summary of the MP election bill

– The Lower House has 500 members – 350 from constituencies and 150 from the party lists.

– The election is run with the Mixed-Member Apportionment system, using a single ballot to determine results in both the constituency and national levels.

– The bill opens the way for non-traditional voting, allowing means of polling other than using the actual ballot.

– Parties wishing to contest for the premier post would submit a list of up to three PM candidates to the Election Commission during the MP application period.

– MP candidates are required to submit three years of tax payment records.

– If MPs were later found to be unqualified, they would risk losing political rights.

– The election campaign period is doubled from the previous 90 days to 180 days, with limitations on campaign budgets prescribed for the EC to deal with political parties.

– The result of the election can be announced when at least 95 per cent of the polling is complete and within 60 days in order to use it to find the number of the party-list MPs.

– The EC has the authority to reschedule an election to ensure fairness.

Election fraud

– Those involved in election fraud, would be banned for up to one year and a by-election would be called.

– If parties are involved in election fraud, punishment could include party dissolution.

– If election fraud is found after the result has already been announced, then the Courts will have authority to decide a by-election and cancel membership of the troubled MPs.

– The culprit of the fraud would be responsible for any expenses for holding a new election.

– Politicians guilty of election fraud could be banned between five to 20 years.

– A challenge to declared election results could be made within 30 days.

Surin, 68, succumbed to a massive heart attack.

He collapsed at his residence and was admitted to Ramkhamhaeng Hospital. He was about to leave his residence to preside over the Thailand Halal Assembly 2017 at Bitec Bangna at 2pm when he collapsed, according to a close aide.

His funeral will be held today at Tha It Mosque in Nonthaburi province.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Foreign Ministry, the Asean Secretariat, former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, Democrat leader and ex-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Swedish Ambassador to Thailand Staffan Herrstrom and human rights defender Phil Robertson expressed their condolences to Surin’s family.

“It is really sad that we have lost a good and efficient politician, who served the country and the people,” Chuan, who Surin considered his mentor, wrote on his Line account.

Born on October 28, 1949 in a Muslim family, Surin is a native of the southern Nakon Si Thammarat province. He spoke proudly of his educational background – his primary education in a pondok Islamic boarding school in his hometown in the South – before moving to the United States for higher education.

“A pondok child from the dusty southern province of Thailand is able to stand here because of the education that gave him the opportunity,” he once said.

He was awarded the American Field Service (AFS) exchange scholarship and was a high-school exchange student in Minnesota in 1967-1968. Upon his return to Bangkok, he attended Thammasat University for two years before winning a scholarship from Claremont Men’s College, Claremont, California, to complete his BA in Political Science in 1972. He then went on to Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he received his MA and PhD in 1974 and 1982 respectively, in the field of Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies.

He also spent 18 months studying Arabic and conducting research at the American University in Cairo from 1975-1977, while concurrently a fellow at the Higher Institute of Islamic Research in Cairo.

Surin was known for his many roles in using his knowledge to contribute to his home country and region. He was a scholar, columnist, politician and diplomat. He taught at the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University from 1978-1986. He also served as an assistant to the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs during the same period.

Surin was also a regular columnist for The Nation from 1975-1992.

He entered politics in 1986 when he ran for a parliamentary seat in his home province, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and was returned to the lower house eight times. As an elected MP, Surin served as secretary to the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai. He became well known for his work at the Foreign Ministry, as deputy foreign minister from 1992-1995 and as full minister from 1997 to 2001.

Surin played significant roles in many regional issues, including the political problem in Myanmar.

One of his achievements was to bring secretive North Korea to sit in the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) when he served as chair of the Asean Ministerial Meeting and the Chair of the ARF in 1999-2000.

In September 1999, while chairing Asean, he led efforts to get Southeast Asian governments to help restore law and order and that joint undertaking, with the support of the United Nations, brought about peace and security in East Timor, after a referendum to separate from Indonesia.

Surin was regarded as a true ambassador of Asean when he served as the secretary-general of the group between 2008-2012 – the first five-year term for an Asean chief after the charter came into force. He was never lacking in ideas, even after his stint with Asean ended. Recently, he proposed that members of Asean allocate 10 per cent of their combined $1-trillion reserves to set up a fund for a connectivity plan, rather than relying on money from outside.

Acting NACC secretary-general Worawit Sookboon said the NACC suspected that the former government official was unusually rich after charging him and former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom with malfeasance of duty over government-to-government deals under the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s rice distribution scheme.

A sub-panel created by the NACC to investigate Weerawut’s wealth found that he could not clarify the origin of more than Bt896 million in assets.

Acting on the sub-panel’s report, the NACC decided earlier this month to charge him with having unusual wealth. Worawit said the NACC had also been investigating the wealth of five more politicians as well as three senior officials involved in the rice-pledging scheme and would reveal its findings to the public.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on August 25 sentenced Boonsong and 19 others to jail terms of 24 to 48 years for their roles in executing fake government-to-government rice deals during the previous Yingluck government’s tenure, causing Bt16.9-billion in financial damage to the state. Weerawut, the third former official convicted, fled the country before the court ruling.

They arrived at Government House in the afternoon for their identity and group photos before travelling together to the palace in the evening. Some ministers vowed to start working on their first day in office on Friday with a determination to pursue government policies, while others said they would outline their priorities.

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry is under the spotlight because of changes in personnel. Prayut had said earlier he wished to see them steer his “phase two” work, referring to changes in farm foundations started by former Agriculture Minister Chatchai Sarikulya, who is now the deputy PM.

The new Deputy Agricultural Minister, Luck Wajananawat, a noted banker for the poor, said he had not yet spoken to the new minister, Krisada Boonrat. He said, however, that government policy was clear in its intention to help farmers amid plunging farm prices, and listening to their plight is a priority.

New Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said his ministry would from now on work more closely with the Agriculture Ministry, besides pursuing the economic policies initiated by the government’s economic team led by Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak.

The new Cabinet reshuffle, the fourth under Prayut, took place ahead of elections scheduled for late next year. Some political observers see it as an attempt to boost the popularity of the government among people as there is speculation the junta may seek a political role in the future.

Prayut said on Tuesday during the mobile Cabinet meeting in the South that his ministerial reshuffle was aimed at bringing in new faces to help boost the government’s image.

“The purpose of reshuffling the Cabinet is that I want new faces to make people realise that there is a change. People should then realise and acknowledge that there has been a [genuine] reshuffle,” he said.