FFP’s Pannika singled out for ‘unusual’ party donation
Activist Srisuwan Janya will ask the Election Commission to look into the assets of Pannika Wanich, MP and spokeswoman of Future Forward Party (FFP), after she made a large donation to her party despite only reporting a relatively modest income to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Back in August, Ms Pannika reported having about 91,000 baht in cash across four bank accounts to the NACC. In total, she reported having 3.3-million baht worth of assets, which included jewellery, two cars, and a sum of 864,000 baht which she had set aside for investment.
Mr Srisuwan, who is also secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Thai Constitution, said that considering that she “only had several thousand baht” in her bank account, it was unusual to see her make a one-million-baht donation to the FFP on Nov 13 last year.
“The Election Commission, which recently revealed the financial aid given to parties between October last year to January, needs to look into the issue as it may involve irregularities,” he said. Mr Srisuwan urged Ms Pannika to clarify the source of her donation to dismiss speculation the donation might have been illegally obtained or was “given by another donor to divide his donations to avoid violating the law.”
His accusation is the latest to hit the problem-plagued FFP, which is currently split by an internal conflict which may see about 50 members and former election candidates resign from the party today, out of frustration with the party’s management. Several members claimed they “can’t get close” to party executives, while a number of candidates who did not win in the last election claimed they were “ignored” by the party’s elite.
“It seems party heavyweights — including leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit — are no longer interested [in unsuccessful candidates], though the FFP leader had promised to give them jobs that match their background,” said a source. “But now Mr Thanathorn tells them not to make any demands on the party.”
On a related note, a survey by the Super Poll Research Centre, or Super Poll, found most Thais would “feel nothing” if the FFP is dissolved.
The surprising defeat of the Future Forward Party (FFP) in Nakhon Pathom’s Constituency 5 by-election on Oct 23 has dealt a blow to the party and, especially, to its billionaire leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. The party attached special importance to the poll in this mixed rural-urban constituency with about 140,000 eligible voters, to the extent that Mr Thanathorn billed it as a contest of popularity between the government and the opposition camps that would determine the political course of the country.
An over-confident Mr Thanathorn even predicted the party’s by-election win would create a domino effect that would eventually lead to the fall of Prime Minister Prayut Chano-cha’s administration.
He was proven wrong. The Constituency 5 by-election was definitely not a symbolic contesting ground to determine the popularity of the government and the opposition camps. Neither was it the first domino for the government or the FFP.
It is apparent many opponents of Future Forward feel avenged after the party’s election defeat and claim this is a telltale sign of the party’s declining popularity.
Others blamed the arrogance of the party’s threesome, Mr Thanathorn, party secretarygeneral Piyabutr Saengkanokkul and spokeswoman Pannika Wanich, for the poll defeat.
Just as this by-election was not a test of popularity between the government and the opposition bloc, neither does it signal the FFP’s decline. But it should serve as a wake-up call for the party to reflect on what went wrong with voters who have turned their back on the party. Or what went wrong with the party or its core leaders?
Mr Piyabutr has blamed the defeat on the fact the poll was held on a Wednesday which, although a national holiday, caused many factory workers who are party supporters to miss the election because their factories did not close. That may be partially true. But the winner of the election, Padermchai Sasomsap of the Chartthaipattana Party, won 37,675 votes according to the unofficial count, which is 4,000 votes more than the 34,164 votes won by Jumpita Chantharakachorn, the Future Forward candidate, in the earlier Sunday, March 24 election.
Mr Padermchai, a veteran politician whose family has dominated local and national politics in Nakhon Pathom for decades attributed his comeback win to his old-style door-to-door approach reaching out to voters compared to the FFP’s emphasis on campaign rallies and social media.
There is no doubt the FFP has become the party of choice for many new-generation voters who are attracted by the political freshness, outspokenness and charm of its three core leaders. The party has also emerged as an ideological flag bearer for its unwavering advocacy for democracy and constitutional changes.
The party stood out as the only opposition party that voted against the government’s executive decree to transfer some army units and budget to a royal security command unit while all the other opposition parties, including Pheu Thai, voted in favour of the decree.
In the debate in parliament, Mr Piyabutr said he agreed with the need for security for the royal family, but he didn’t think there was an urgent need for the government to issue an executive decree to facilitate the transfer.
Looking back at the party’s performance in the March 24 election, it came third with 81 constituency and party-list House seats after Pheu Thai Party’s 136 constituency seats and the Palang Pracharath Party’s 116 constituency and party-list seats. Pheu Thai was denied even a single party-list seat because of the distorted seat calculation maths under the mixed-member proportional system.
But as far as the popular vote is concerned, Future Forward received 6.2 million votes compared to Pheu Thai’s 7.6 million and Palang Pracharath’s 8.4 million. This is quite significant for a new party, with mostly new faces among its election candidates.
To achieve its goals of winning the next election, by-elections or the gubernatorial contest in Bangkok which is yet to be set, the party will have to win the support of more than just new-generation voters.
It must court the more grown-up constituents who may disdain the brashness, outspokenness and arrogance of its leaders — those who need more than just the same war cry of pro-democracy and anti-military dictatorship to make them switch sides and vote for the party.
‘‘ It is apparent that many opponents of the Future Forward feel avenged after the party’s election defeat.