Section 44 of the previous interim charter will be invoked to ensure fair and equal treatment for all political parties in the countdown to the election, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam says.
But election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has disagreed, saying the invocation of the all-powerful provision will not benefit new parties.
Mr Wissanu said invocation of Section 44 by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to extend deadlines for parties to complete processes required by the organic law on political parties will ensure both established parties and emerging ones can start their pre-poll activities at the same time without any having an edge over one another.
Otherwise, established parties which already have members and executives would gain the upper hand over emerging parties as they can get to work immediately as soon as the ban on political activities is lifted, Mr Wissanu said.
But new parties must start things from scratch such as recruiting members, choosing party executives and finding names for the parties before seeking registration with the Election Commission (EC), and it is up to the EC to decide whether to allow the new parties to be established -- a process which takes about 30 days, Mr Wissanu said.
He said when a Section 44 order is issued, details regarding the extension of deadlines will be provided. He added the order will also specify when the ban on political activities will be lifted to allow parties to engage in activities.
However, Mr Wissanu confirmed the extension of the deadlines will not affect the election schedule tentatively set for November next year. Under the organic law's Jan 5 deadline, parties must also have at least 500 members, finish collecting membership fees from them, register seed funds of no less than 1 million baht, elect party leaders and executives, write a party manifesto and regulations, set up provincial branches and prepare primary-voting procedures.
Gen Prayut said on Tuesday that Section 44, which has been carried over into the current charter, will be invoked to extend deadlines for parties to complete the processes required by the organic law and to prepare for the poll.
Mr Somchai, an EC member, yesterday said that the partial relaxation of the ban on parties will not help new parties as they still have to follow various time-consuming procedures in setting up parties and holding meetings to select executives, compared to established parties which are ready to begin activities straight away.
Government spokesman Lt Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd previously said the political ban will be partially eased to facilitate the setting up of new parties and allow existing ones to update their membership databases. The ban relaxation may be announced next week or before Jan 5, he said.