Pheu Thai Party in peril

Pheu Thai Party in peril

As the general election, tentatively planned for Feb 24, draws nearer, the Pheu Thai Party's very existence has increasingly come under threat. A lawsuit and several allegations against its executives have put the party at risk of being dissolved.

First, the legal department of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has filed a complaint with police against eight Pheu Thai leaders for holding a press conference to criticise the regime in May. Sedition is among the four criminal charges being brought against them. Speculation is mounting the party could be dissolved if they are found guilty.

Added to this, there have been complaints that Pheu Thai core leaders broke the political party law by allegedly having ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra control the party from abroad, first via a video call and then by meeting him in Hong Kong.

The Election Commission (EC) has been probing the video call case. Even though the rationale behind the lawsuit and allegations is flimsy, Pheu Thai seems to want to avoid any risk. It plans to transfer its candidates to the newly established Pheu Tham Party, in the event it is dissolved.

Pheu Thai's fear is not without grounds given that many have questioned the political impartiality of the poll agency.

Set up in 1997 as an independent agency, the EC has been embroiled in political conflicts for over a decade. When Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai government was in power, the poll agency under the helm of Pol Gen Wassana Permlarb from 2002-2006, was seen as favouring the ruling regime due to its slow responses to complaints against the government.

Since then, groups of selected commissioners have been seen as siding with the anti-Thaksin camp.

The current EC also faces a crisis of credibility. Five of its seven commissioners were chosen by the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly. Since the 2014 putsch, it has been actively pursuing "politically motivated" cases against members of Pheu Thai.

Recent efforts to have the party dissolved are even more political than the previous cases handled by the EC.

This week, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam brushed aside allegations that the party falls under Thaksin's control and directives, saying members are free to meet whoever they choose. He is right. But his statement has upset opponents of Pheu Thai. Despite this, they are mistaken in thinking that an allegation without proper grounds or solid evidence should be the death knell of a party.

The new law on political parties was designed to curb Thaksin's influence on Pheu Thai and his dominance of Thai politics in general. But if used against Pheu Thai based on such a flimsy rationale, similar cases could be made against other parties.

For example, politicians representing the Sam Mitr political group are not members of the Palang Pracharath Party.

But they have allegedly encouraged former MPs of other parties to defect and join the pro-regime party. A similar complaint of letting "outsiders" influence the party could be made against Palang Pracharath if Pheu Thai were to be dissolved.

The anti-Thaksin camp has long claimed the ousted premier was corrupt and implemented self-serving policies.

Since then the political turmoil has worsened with a series of legal actions against Thaksin and his cronies. Much of this was seen as the product of unfair and biased law enforcement.

There is no need for political parties to go down that path and make decisions motivated by a desire to exact revenge.

Ahead of the election, the EC faces an uphill task to ensure it will not pursue dissolution cases against any party based on politically-motivated accusations.

Otherwise, political conflict will deepen and the turmoil that has unsettled the country for prolonged periods in recent years will never end.

Editorial

Bangkok Post editorial column

These editorials represent Bangkok Post thoughts about current issues and situations.

Email : anchaleek@bangkokpost.co.th

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