Anti-govt activists to ramp up protests
GROUPS TO STAGE PROLONGED RALLY IN MAY AHEAD OF NCPO’S FOURTH ANNIVERSARY
>> Anti-military activists have announced they will step up their rally and stage a prolonged rally in May to oust the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) ahead of its fourth anniversary on May 22.
The announcement was made as the groups’ rally intensified last night when protesters broke security barriers to gather in front of the Royal Thai Army headquarters on Ratchadamnoen Avenue.
Rangsiman Rome, a leader of the Democracy Restoration Group (DRG), yesterday insisted the election must be held this year.
The DRG, together with Start Up People led by Sirawith Seritiwat, marched from Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus to the army headquarters, calling on the army to stop supporting the NCPO.
According to police, about 400 people joined their rally while more than 600 security officers and anti-riot police were deployed to curb the situation.
The confrontation intensified around 6.50pm when the protesters tried to break security barriers and official lines at Jor Por Ror intersection to make their way to the army headquarters.
The protesters eventually broke the barriers and made their way past security officers to stage their rally in front of the army headquarters.
The groups rallied under the name of “the People Who Want Elections” for a fourth time yesterday. On March 10, they demanded that the NCPO be dissolved and the Prayut Chan-o-cha government remain only a caretaker administration.
“Thai politics cannot move on if the military remains in politics. Today’s march to the Royal Thai Army headquarters is aimed at calling for the military to stop supporting the NCPO and take the people’s side. We are not calling for any resignations, just the freedom from the NCPO,” said Mr Rangsiman. Meanwhile, Mr Sirawith said the military should take care of peace and order but not the security of the NCPO.
“No more delaying of the election. It’s time of the people now. Unless the army responds to our call, we will oust the army too. The chiefs of the armed forces can just resign,” he said, setting the major rally date on May 5.
“Unless our call is responded to, in May we will upgrade our rally to oust all the mechanisms of the NCPO and the National Legislative Assembly to really transition to democracy,” Mr Sirawith said.
The army commander-in-chief Chalermchai Sitthisad is the NCPO’s secretary-general.
Mr Rangsiman on Friday was released on bail after being detained in Khon Kaen on Friday. The military judges accepted the case in which he was accused of taking part in a political gathering in defiance of a regime order at Khon Kaen University two years ago.
Both Mr Rangsiman and Mr Sirawith were among activists released on bail after leading several rallies against the NCPO despite the ban on political gatherings of five people or more.
While the regime’s ban on political activities is expected to be partially lifted from April 1 as existing political parties will be allowed to hold some activities. Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma said yesterday 58 political parties, with 294 representatives, have confirmed they would join the meeting.
The parties are expected to turn up the heat on the regime at a meeting on March 28 in which the EC will explain the legal changes, and press for clarity on “the dos and don’ts” for next month. They have called for the political ban to be fully lifted.
The NCPO will also send its representatives to the meeting.
So far, activities which are permitted from April 1 include updating party memberships. However, the New Alternative Party yesterday was the first new party to have had a general assembly, allowed on a case-by-case basis by the NCPO.
Since March 2, new political parties, including the New Alternative Party, have been allowed to register with the EC. As of Friday, 70 parties have registered.
“There will be answers to all questions” from existing parties, EC chairman Supachai Somcharoen said on Friday.
He was speaking after meeting Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam to discuss preparations for the gathering. However, he said the issue of lifting the NCPO’s ban on political activities was not discussed.
Mr Supachai said party meetings will be allowed only after the organic bill on the election of MPs becomes law, in accordance with the terms of the original NCPO ban.
The bill on the election of MPs has now passed the National Legislative Assembly and once it is submitted to Gen Prayut, he will have five days to decide whether to petition the Constitutional Court for a validity check or forward the bill for royal endorsement.
Under Gen Prayut’s Section 44 order on Dec 22, members of existing parties are required to confirm membership and pay membership fees from April 1-30, or they will lose their status.
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.
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.