Chicanery can only go on so long

Chicanery can only go on so long

The main political parties are likely to agree briefly this week to try to convince the junta to lifts its ban on political activities.
The main political parties are likely to agree briefly this week to try to convince the junta to lifts its ban on political activities.

The week ahead is going to be intense as political parties prepare to attend a meeting on Wednesday with those who seized power to negotiate the possibility of a total lifting of the ban on political activities.

These moves by the major parties come ahead of April 1 when the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is set to partially lift the ban on such activities.

Under the Section 44 issued on Dec 22, 2017 by coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha to amend the new organic laws on political parties, the timeframe for parties to comply with the organic law was extended beyond the original deadline of 180 days from Oct 8, 2017.

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

As for the current rules, activities which are permitted from April include updating party memberships. Existing parties are required to confirm their membership and collect fees from April 1-30, or they will lose their status.

Furthermore, existing parties must prove within 180 days of April 1 that they have at least 500 members, finish collecting membership fees and register seed funds of no less than 1 million baht.

However, the ban on other political activities, such as party meetings, campaigning and gatherings, remains in place and may not be rescinded until later this year.

All these issues are still lingering in the heads of the various parties that are planning on contesting the polls if and when election does takes place. It is these questions that the older established parties will be seeking answers to at the planned meeting on March 28 with the Election Commission and representatives of the NCPO.

The Election Commission, which itself is undergoing a turbulent time thanks to the abuse of absolute power by the junta leader, has assured the political parties that it will be able to answer most if not all the questions that they will likely raise.

This may sound like music to the ears of the political parties, especially the older ones which are are at the moment subject to what could be called discrimination by the NCPO which is determined to curtail their popularity and power.

Very few people would be surprised by such manoeuvring. I'm sure any political analyst in the country would give you the same answer, which is that the elements that the junta is so keen on squashing would almost certainly return to governance if elections were held tomorrow.

Such an outcome would be a slap to the face of a junta that has been in power since May 22, 2014 and has consistently sought to demonise the party and leadership from which it seized that power.

As the junta prepares to celebrate its fourth anniversary on May 22, just 58 days from today, many have openly questioned what exactly it has achieved over the past four years.

Apart from a tourism sector which has continued to grow, and an export sector that has seen a surge, thanks to the revival of our trading partners' economies, the bulk of the country's population continues to struggle.

Although the government has come out with plans to distribute funds to the villages, a move that it obviously hopes will help it raise its standing in key rural areas ahead of a poll, it remains to be seen how effective such populist policies will be when the nation goes to polls early next year.

This money is a part of a supplementary budget of 150 billion baht approved in January by the cabinet to spur the grassroots economy, the sector that has been most severely impacted by the lack of economic growth. The bill on this budget was put forward for rubber stamping by the National Legislative Assembly and was unsurprisingly approved within a few hours late last week.

The Ministry of the Interior has the job of disbursing the 30 billion baht and it is expected that the 82,000 villages will each receive up to 300,000 baht each.

It is a project that has drawn criticism from numerous quarters, all of whom have accused it of being nothing more than a cynical ploy to score political points ahead of a general election that is expected next February.

The political parties have already come out and said that they believe these moves are part of the junta's broader plan to canvass support for a military-backed political party that is expected to be formed to contest the election.

With so many questions in the minds of the political parties, it can only be hoped that the Election Commission and the NCPO minion who attends the meeting are able to give some convincing answers.

Umesh Pandey

Bangkok Post Editor

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

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