POWER GAMES
NATTAYA CHETCHOTIROS
Having been pushed into a corner for two weeks, the People Power party has now turned the tables on the Democrats.
For a start, the PPP claims it has information that, in the not-too-distant future, some of the Democrat party's executives may be given the red card for violating election law.
These executives include Vithoon Nambutr, a Democrat deputy leader for the Northeast; Rangsima Rodrassamee, an MP for Samut Songkhram province and a party executive; Alongkorn Ponlaboot , a deputy leader and MP for Phetchaburi province, and Narapat Kaewthong, a party executive and MP for Phichit province.
The focus is on the case of Mr Vithoon.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej raised the issue during his weekly national broadcast on Sunday.
He was seen on television saying that a Democrat executive in Ubon Ratchathani province is about to be disqualified.
He did not mention names but it was an obvious reference to Mr Vithoon.
The Democrats were just as quick to get back at Mr Samak for his remarks.
They claimed the government was trying to meddle with the Election Commission's ongoing inquiry into poll fraud allegations levelled against the Democrat party's executives.
The Election Commission itself has confirmed that stronger evidence is needed before Mr Vithoon can be disqualified.
The PPP's poll candidates had filed a complaint against Mr Vithoon, accusing him of poll fraud following the Dec 23 general election.
The poll agency had to launch an inquiry into the case and is looking for more evidence.
But if the majority of the election commissioners votes to disqualify any of the Democrat executives, and forwards the case to the Supreme Court's election division, the Democrat party will have to brace itself for the same fate as the PPP - which is now praying that the Constitution Court will not dissolve it, after its former deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat was found guilty of poll fraud by the Supreme Court.
It is obvious that the PPP wants to give the Democrats a taste of their own medicine and is trying to get them to see the flaws in the Constitution for themselves, so that the Democrats will not get in the way of the PPP's efforts to seek changes to the charter.
As if that were not enough, the PPP is also asking the EC to check the qualifications of 28 MPs of the Democrat party.
The ruling party claims that these MPs hold shares in newspapers, radio, television and telecom businesses, or businesses that won state concessions or enjoy a monopoly. This is in breach of Article 48 of the charter.
This is despite the fact that practically all of the PPP's MPs themselves have stakes in the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, Thai Airways International and True Corporation.
The National Counter Corruption Commission, which has taken over the cases from the now-defunct Assets Scrutiny Committee, is also being targeted by the PPP.
On his Sunday talk show, Mr Samak said the NCCC might not be a legitimate body because it was set up by the coup-makers and its members were not sworn in when they took office.
Efforts are also being made to prove whether eight members of the anti-graft body, except for chairman Panthep Klanarongran, had fallen foul of the law by issuing a regulation creating the positions of adviser, secretary and assistant secretary, and setting salaries and monthly allowances for these people.
In the wake of successive defeats in court wrangles, the PPP is looking to crank up its game another notch to make sure the charter is successfully amended well before the Constitution Court decides whether or not to disband the party.
To achieve that end will not be that easy, however.
The prime minister and his cabinet have a sword of Damocles hanging over their future, as a group of senators and the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy have asked the NCCC to bring criminal charges against the entire cabinet over the Preah Vihear temple row.
The Constitution Court ruled on July 8 that the joint communique Thailand signed with Cambodia on June 18 supporting the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site, was unconstitutional. The court said the communique required parliament's approval before being signed, under Article 190 of the charter.
For that matter, the cabinet may be impeached for violating the charter and have their election rights suspended for five years.
Worse still, the PAD is calling for the cabinet to be punished under Articles 119 and 120 of the Criminal Code. If found guilty, the offenders could face the maximum penalty of death.
To ensure the government's ship sinks sooner rather than later, the Democrats recently said they had access to a new piece of evidence which will be its trump card to bring down the government. It is a cabinet resolution dated May 20 - and not the cabinet resolution of June 17, which was not filed as claimed by the cabinet's secretariat.
The Democrats allege that the May 20 cabinet resolution showed the cabinet intended to breach the constitution.
They say the May 20 resolution set the stage for then foreign affairs minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An to put their initials on the Preah Vihear temple joint communique in a meeting with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on May 22.
The communique took effect only after the cabinet approval and official signing.
Mr Noppadon signed it with the Cambodian deputy PM on June 18, one day after cabinet endorsed the joint declaration on June 17.
Despite all the gloom and doom ahead, the PPP believes the judiciary does not want to have a hand in creating a political deadlock.
Also, there is no guarantee that the Democrats stand a chance of forming a government if the PPP falls or the House is dissolved.
It should come as no surprise if another reincarnation is on the cards. The resurrection of Thai Rak Thai in the People Power party is an example.
Nattaya Chetchotiros is President of the Thai Journalists Association and Assistant News Editor, Bangkok Post.
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