End bans on free speech
Three months away from a possible election, the ban on political activities and basic freedoms is truly a mystery. There seems no logical reason to continue the bans. They were imposed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in the wake of the May 22, 2014, coup. They were regularised by formal edict early in 2015. The army-controlled junta continues to state it will not lift the bans “yet” and refuses to state an ending date.
The bans apply to everyone. NCPO Order 3/2557 bans any meeting about politics by five or more people. This is, in effect, simply intimidation. Last week and on Sunday, major political parties held public events to display their top election candidates. The delicate political ban, as currently enforced, allows such show-off parties. But party leaders, candidates and members alike are absolutely forbidden from discussing their actual political stances, including official party platforms.
So are the public. And so are all the media. Junta orders right from the coup day up until now restrict what people, newspapers, broadcasters and internet users can say and write. The texts of the orders specifically state they are extra-constitutional. The public conversations that still take place are always under these strictures. If a journalist or an ordinary citizen knows the platform of a party, he or she can be arrested and imprisoned for disseminating it publicly.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and other junta members have long promised the ban on civil freedoms will be lifted prior to the election. That promise remains theoretical. There is no election date, and NCPO members up to Gen Prayut and his first Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon have said only that the restriction on these basic freedoms will only be lifted when it is appropriate.
In fact, as thinking Thais know, it is already appropriate to revert the country to constitutional law instead of military justice. Far too many loyal citizens have already been imprisoned or enmeshed in the justice system for breaking the military’s laws. Arguably worse than the bans of free speech, free assembly and free press has been the highly selective prosecution of alleged violators. It is safe to say no supporter of the coup, the government, the junta or the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) has faced censure for their activities.
It must also be noted, disappointingly, that if the junta keeps its promise to abolish its orders against free speech, it has added new laws to keep recalcitrant free thinkers and loyal oppositionists in check. The strictest crowd control law in the country’s history will effectively ban any outdoor rally not specifically allowed by the government. This is a lamentable check on free speech. It is matched by the draconian Computer Crime Act Version 2.0 that inhibits or outright forbids free speech on the internet.
It is indeed a mystery why the junta chief, army commander Gen Apirat Kongsompong, still refuses to lift the NCPO orders. Some politicians have charged that Gen Prayut wants to give the pro-regime PPRP time to better organise. But other parties, too, gain organisational time, including opposition Pheu Thai and its allies.
It is no longer acceptable for the junta to use intimidation to muzzle political comment. It doesn’t really make sense. Last Sunday, the PPRP and the new Thai Raksa Chart both held large events to brag about their election candidates. But both parties were not allowed to provide even basic details about what the groups and candidates believe.
It is, in fact, past time for the junta to loosen its controls. There is no articulable reason to maintain bans on the most basic constitutional freedoms. The public has the right to hear all political facts and opinions from politicians and the media.
The junta continues to state it will not lift the bans ‘yet’.