“I’m so concerned [about the false claim]. I insist I have never known that person [who claimed his name]. And I have never thought about insulting the Monarchy,” he tweeted via @ThaksinLive on Monday night without elaborating who he was referring to.

Thaksin condemned the action and insisted he would file a lawsuit against those who had implicated him in the wrongdoing.

“I will have my legal team sue whoever implicated me in an insult of the monarchy. No matter whom I know or don’t know,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Thaksin assigned his lawyer to file a petition to the Attorney-General asking for a review of the lese majeste charge against him.

His lawyer would submit the petition on Thursday at the Office of the Attorney-General, TV24 People Station, a red-shirt movement affiliate news channel, reported on Monday.

Last week, the new Attorney-General, Khemchai Chutiwong, revealed that the Attorney-General’s Office had agreed to a police request to formally charge Thaksin with lese majeste and violation of the Computer Act.

The charge relates to an interview Thaksin gave South Korean media in 2015, when he allegedly made contentious statements about who was behind a coup that ousted the Pheu Thai-led government in May 2014.

Thai authorities said the next step would be to locate Thaksin and issue an arrest warrant. Once his whereabouts were confirmed, the Thai authorities would ask for his extradition.

Thaksin was last week in Dubai after spending time with his family in London last month.

Pol Colonel Chairit Anurit is accused of faking the licence plates of the car he allegedly used to transport Yingluck from Bangkok, besides helping her to get away, as he had confessed to staff judge-advocates.

However, as DNA testing cannot prove that Yingluck was actually in the car Chairit is said to have used to facilitate her flight, the criminal charge against him has now had to be dropped, leaving just the charge of faking the plates, Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Maj-General Panurat Lakboon said on Monday.

The police have concluded that Chairit violated police regulations by “dishonestly carrying out his duty in a manner causing severe damage to the functioning of the state,” said Panurat, who led the fact-finding committee in Chairit’s case.

A committee to prosecute Chairit on disciplinary grounds will be set up soon.

He could face disciplinary sanctions ranging from wage deduction and detention through to sacking, the deputy commissioner added.

Chairit is due to acknowledge the charge against him Tuesday.

THE BAN on political activities will continue despite the promulgation of the political party organic law, the government and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) have insisted.

“The ban will not be lifted unless the organic laws are finished. And we don’t know when they will be or when the election will be held. There is still time,” Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday.

Four organic laws regarding the Election Commission, political parties, MPs and the Senate need to be completed to pave the way for the next election. The first two laws are already in effect but the other two are still being drafted.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam asked political parties to be “patient” and wait until the Royal Cremation Ceremony ends before the NCPO can consider removing the ban.

The Royal Cremation for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej is scheduled for October 25 to 29.

Wissanu said the junta understood that there were deadlines that political parties had to meet before the next election and was attempting to expedite the enactment of the relevant law to allow parties time to prepare.

But he said the Election Commission might not be ready to deal with parties following the new law, which could cause a delay in lifting the ban in addition to that related to the Royal Cremation.

He added that political parties had to wait a little longer, although that should not cause problems and they should be able to meet deadlines without difficulty.

The NCPO and the Cabinet will meet separately today at Government House, but Wissanu said he was not sure whether the NCPO would discuss lifting the ban as it was not on the agenda.

Surachai Liengboonlertchai, vice president of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), said yesterday that the lifting of the ban could be expected soon.

A ban on political activities of more than five people has been imposed since 2014 when the NCPO took power.

Politicians are calling on the NCPO to loosen its grip on political activities after the Royal funeral.

New requirements

Samart Kaewmeechai, former Chiang Rai MP for Pheu Thai Party, said there were many things parties had to do to follow the new law, including reporting changes in their membership to the registrar within 90 days, setting up branches in provinces and recruiting new members within 180 days.

But because of the existing ban on political gatherings, it was impossible for parties to carry out any activities, Samart said. He also asked whether the organic law or NCPO order was more important.

The head of the Democrat Party’s legal team, Wirat Kalayasiri, said due to mechanisms introduced in the new law, including the primary voting system, political parties needed to begin election preparations as soon as possible to keep up with innovations.

Parties should be allowed to perform activities as long as they did not incite people, Wirat said.

Chart Thai Pattana Party director Nikorn Chamnong agreed that parties had a lot of preparations to meet the requirements of the new law and be ready for the future election. He added that the NCPO should revise its ban after the Royal Cremation ceremonies.

Supachai Chaisamut, deputy secretary-general of the Bhum Jai Thai Party, said the ban needed to be lifted to avoid a negative impact on political parties that would not be able to convene and resume activities.

He said the NCPO should gradually relax its grip on some issues if it was still concerned about specific problems.

However, political parties should have enough freedom to work on issues addressed in the law, Supachai said.

The decision came after almost three years of investigation as the intellectual was brought yesterday to meet prosecutors at the Bangkok Military Court.

Police charged Sulak with lese majeste days after he questioned the historical accuracy of King Naresuan’s heroic elephant battle in an academic seminar on October 5, 2014.

The duel, in which the late King is said have been victorious over Burmese Crown Prince Mingyi Swa, is often regarded in Thai mainstream history as a momentous victory that freed Ayutthaya from Burmese rule.

King Naresuan the Great, recognised as an icon of emancipation, is highly revered by ordinary people and the military. The Thai Armed Forces regard January 18 as Thai Military Day to commemorate the victory, although the story is not related to modern-day military affairs.

Sulak made comments relating to the battle that differed from the mainstream narratives, prompting two Army Lt-Generals to file charges against him with the police for violating lese majeste on October 16, 2014.

The lese majeste law, according to Article 112 of the Penal Code, reads: “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.”

Sulak was yesterday escorted to military prosecutors, who will have the final say on whether to issue a prosecution order against him. He is due to hear the decision on December 7.

Watana appeared in court on Monday with his lawyer for a review of his testimony following prosecutors’ charges that included a violation of the Computer Act.

He said he was innocent of the allegation relating to the missing plaque.

In his posting, he called for the government to find the thief immediately otherwise the government might be regarded as being an accomplice in the theft.

Watana was a former Commerce Minister under the government of Yingluck Shinawatra.

He told the court he would defend the allegation. A meeting of both sides to review the evidence was set for December 18.

The Deputy PM cited examples of cases still before a court that could potentially be pursued in another court following the promulgation of the new law, regardless when the alleged wrongdoings were committed.

This does not compromise a defendant’s rights to justice, he said, contrasting it to penalties set against defendants which could not be made retroactively.

Asked whether Thaksin’s cases could be pursued retroactively, Wissanu replied that the legal principle suggested that it could.

Thaksin has some five cases under prosecution, and the Attorney General’s Office as well as the National Anti-Corruption Commission are reviving them following the court’s previous disposal of them upon his absence from court after he fled the country.

He said the DNA traces found in the vehicle had been contaminated and could not be used to verify them against those collected from Yingluck’s personal belongings at her residence.

The police cannot therefore establish guilt against her driver, Pol Colonel Chairit Anurit of the Metropolitan Police, for malfeasance of duty under Article 157 of the Criminal Code, he added.

However, Chairit has already been charged with possessing fake licence plates found in the vehicle and is the subject of a disciplinary probe, Srivara said.

On August 23, Yingluck allegedly fled in the vehicle to Sa Kaeo province, where she then reportedly crossed the border.

She was subsequently found to have reached Dubai, from where she later travelled to the United Kingdom.

She failed to attend the scheduled August 25 reading of the Supreme Court verdict in the case against her relating to her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

The verdict, which was finally read on September 27, found the ex-PM guilty on some of the charges and she was sentenced in absentia to five years in jail, without any suspension of the sentence.

The police have since charged her for violation of immigration law, and have also asked Interpol to issue a red notice in order to assist in her arrest.

Thai authorities have also sought the cooperation of other countries to locate her exact whereabouts.

Yingluck is reportedly seeking asylum in the UK, France or Germany.

The survey, that has no role in the actual selection of the next police chief by the Police Commission, is being carried out by the Royal Thai Police without a set closing date.

The current national police chief, Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda, will retire at the end of September 2019.

So far, only 127 respondents have taken part in the survey, with 36.2 per cent of them voting for Chalermkiart to replace Chakthip.

The survey asked respondents to pick the national police chief from among the current five deputies.

Pol General Rungroj Saengkram came second with 24.4 per cent of votes, Pol General Weerchai Songmetta came third with 16.5 per cent, Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul came fourth with 15 per cent and Pol General Dejnarong Sutthicharn Bancha came fifth with 7.9 per cent of votes cast.

The largest group of respondents, at 37 per cent are non-commissioned policemen, followed by deputy inspectors and inspectors at 33.1 per cent of the respondents. The group of deputy commanders and deputy commissioners constituted 16.5 per cent of the respondents, while the general public made up 12.6 per cent.

Kosolwat Indaruchanyong, deputy spokesman of the agency, said Kemchai Chutiwong, the new attorney-general, would officially deliver a policy statement before agency officials on October 17, after which the director-general in charge of special cases would proceed to revive cases involving the former premier.

The criminal cases can now be tried in absentia after new legislation was recently enacted. Previously, criminal proceedings could not go ahead unless suspects were physically present at those proceeding.

Kosolwat said public prosecutors would follow the new law on trials in absentia regarding cases against Thaksin and other political office holders.

Cases involving Thaksin as a key suspect include those concerned with his alleged abuse of power while in office in connection with state-owned Krungthai Bank’s fraudulent multi-billion-baht loans.

He said the agency’s working group would examine facts and details of the cases before making further decision whether to forward the cases to the courts for trials in absentia.

A FORMER prime minister and academics have raised objections regarding the deferment of the promised election as a result of the complicated organic law legislative process, which they said could no longer be justified while warning the delay would not be good for anyone in the long run.

The response came after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s statement last week that the government might announce the promised election next year but it could be held in 2019. The junta head has promised an election date only for it to be delayed at least four times since he took power nearly four years ago.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former prime minister and leader of the Democrat Party, said citing legislation as the cause of the postponement might not be reasonable.

The process should be in the framework set by the Constitution, he said. In addition, the work should have been done smoothly because every legislator came from within the coup-backed circle, or so-called “five rivers of power”, which refers to five bodies controlling the current government, the former prime minister said.

“Now, please, do not send anymore signals to put off the vote or drag it out because this only leads to more issues and risks causing conflict in the future,” Abhisit said. “The ambiguity is not good for anyone.”

Abhisit also called for the current regime to stop creating conditions that would postpone the election, adding that he wished to see the government resolve problems facing people and ensure peace after the poll.

Political scientist Sirote Klampaiboon also said the postponement did not sound reasonable.

After the regime cited the legislation for the delay, Sirote said he believed a quicker process was possible, considering that not much revision was needed and there had not been a lot of work on research or gathering opinions.

Despite Prayut’s recent promise, Sirote said he believed the poll’s prospect were still rather slim.

“In reality, General Prayut has announced officially at least twice that an election would be held. Once when he visited Japan and met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the other time, he told Ban Ki-moon, a former United Nations secretary-general. The election was still postponed,” Sirote said.

Worse still, he said, what was being emphasised more clearly now were all the reasons why the election could not be held and had to be delayed.

He added that Prayut and other leaders in the regime did not even talk about the election clearly anymore, only saying when they would “announce” when it would occur.

Sirote also warned that not only would the uncertainty of the so-called “road map to democracy” and the election date hurt the economy as it drove investors away, but it would also undermine the regime.

“The junta will be put under pressure continuously due to apparent poor administration. Aside from that, because the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO] never learned to share but only keeps power for itself, the number of its political enemies will also grow.”

Another political critic, Attasit Pankaew, a political scientist at Thammasat University, said that although the Constitution had laid out a timetable allowing the election to be delayed, public sentiment should also be a determining factor that should not be overlooked.

“If people do not feel like the poll should be deferred, maybe the junta should listen to them as well,” the political scientist said.

More importantly, Attasit said the road map, which dictates the major points of the junta’s plans including the election, was a key reference point of the regime. When it kept changing, it reflected political instability, which ultimately could affect everything from society to the economy, he said.

“It is a point of concern because it involves national stability,” the academic said. “All society, the economy and everything are based on politics. When there is uncertainty in politics, all other sectors cannot make plans and so the economy might not be able to develop.”

The road map should be clear and reliable, Attasit said, or the country would be filled with an atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty.

Investment delays

Stanley Kang, chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand, said the impact of the election delay would depend on future events and an explanation.

Investors expected the election would take place by the end of this year, but a short delay would not negatively affect investor confidence, he said.

“An election a bit late would not have any affect, if the government has a good explanation and no trouble happens,” said Kang, a Taiwanese investor.

He added that investors were looking for a bill related to the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) to pass the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

Should the NLA approve such a law, it would make investors more confident and spur investment, he said.

Another issue was the availability of skilled workers working in EEC areas, as investors were worried about shortages of highly skilled labour in the long run, Kang said.

Sakon Varanyuwatana, former dean of Thammasat University’s Economics Faculty, said the delay of the general election would impact investor confidence. Many expected elections next year and they wanted to see who would form the new government and carry out economic policy, especially regarding the EEC.

“The delay of election will create uncertainty as investors wait for the new government,” Sakon said.

The current government has tried to ensure that economic reforms will continue by setting up reform and strategy committees and demanding new governments follow its 20-year strategy.

Pipat Luangnaruemitchai, assistant managing director at Phatra Securities, said the delay |of the election would not have |much impact on investor confidence in the economy. He added that no one expected the political situation to deteriorate and lead to turmoil.

Some investors might wait until the new government forms as European countries would not officially deal with the current junta government, he added.