Pro-junta party exec accused of polls violation

BANGKOK: The tactic of going after Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and his anti-junta party members for alleged shareholdings in media companies could come back to haunt the pro-junta camp after a similar allegation was made against one of its members.

At least 12 members of the Future Forward Party, including Thanathorn, have been singled out for alleged shareholdings in media companies, putting them at risk of being disqualified as members of the House of Representatives.

The law prohibits holders of shares in media companies from contesting elections.

Party dissolution is also a possible punishment for parties that approved such ineligible candidates, according to the law.

Thanathorn on Tuesday met the Election Commission (EC) to clarify his case, but another anti-junta party, Pheu Thai, targeted the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party for a similar violation, accusing its executive Chanwit Wiphusiri of allegedly holding shares in media companies.

Chanwit contested and won from Bangkok’s Min Buri district as Phalang Pracharat’s candidate and is set to become a member of the lower house.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Pheu Thai’s legal expert Chusak Sirinin said that if it could be proved Phalang Pracharat had approved Chanwit to contest in the election while he was a shareholder in a media company, the EC could petition the Constitutional Court to disband the party.

Chanwit, meanwhile, argued that he was only involved in real estate business.

His company was not involved in media, though it appeared on paper to be running a media business.

Separately, Thanathorn warned that if Future Forward members became targets for having media shareholdings, then many others from other parties would also have to go down for the same reason.

“If they’re going to apply this standard, MPs from all parties will disappear (from the lower house),” Thanathorn told the press.

Thanathorn had prepared some 27 items of evidence to prove to the poll authority that he had divested his stake on Jan 8, well before he registered to run in the election that took place a month later.

Before meeting with the EC, Thanathorn told the press he had no trouble clarifying the issue.

“I didn’t have to prepare much for today. I only have to insist on the truth,” he said.