The secretary-general of the Election Commission (EC) has dismissed a challenge to the status of the People's Party, the reincarnation of the disbanded Move Forward Party, saying the new party has just opened branches in all regions of the country.
EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said on Monday that last week the Thinkakhaochaovilai Party, which was since renamed as the People’s Party, held a meeting to open branches in all regions as required by law to maintain its political party status, and the party had already reported the branch openings to the political party registrar.
The report had just arrived and had yet to be verified, so the EC website had yet to be updated accordingly, said Mr Sawang, who is also the political party registrar.
The EC secretary-general also said that the People’s Party would open another branch in the northern province of Phitsanulok to enable it to field a candidate for a by-election there. The by-election follows the disqualification of Phitsanulok MP Padipat Santipada, one of the former executives of the dissolved Move Forward Party.
Mr Sawang was responding to an allegation from the conservative leader of the Thai Pakdee Party about the legitimacy of the People’s Party, the new home for Move Forward MPs following its dissolution last week.
On Sunday Thai Pakdee leader Dr Warong Dechgitvigrom voiced doubts that the People’s Party had at least one branch per region in the country as required by law. He also said that he planned to ask the EC to probe the matter.
Dr Warong said that according to the EC website, the People’s Party did not have branches in the South and the Northeast.
EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee