Flash mob gathers in Thammasat to support FFP
>> Hundreds of people converged at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus last night to call for justice and democracy in response to the dissolution of the Future Forward Party (FFP) over a 191.2-million baht loan.
The gathering was called by the Student Union of Thailand via a Facebook message which invited people to join a “flash mob” from 5.30pm.
“There is no justice in this country,” read the post, urging people to light candles to symbolise their call for justice. It also posted the message: “Dictatorship collapse, long live democracy”.
Meanwhile, FFP spokeswoman Pannika Wanich will hold a talk titled “Outside-Parliament Censure Debate” this afternoon at the party’s office in Thon Buri district.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said yesterday the government had nothing to do with the Constitutional Court’s decision.
He also said people have the right to rally, but they have to do it within the limits of the law, such as seeking permission, informing the authorities in advance and not obstructing traffic.
Pol Col Worasak Siribannakorn, chief of Chana Songkhram police station, said no officers had been deployed for the student union event as it was being held on private property.
He said police were only taking care of people’s convenience and peace and order outside campus.
Wirote Lakkhana-adisorn, a list MP of the dissolved party, said he was confident the party’s members will remain united, though he admitted it was not possible to tell MPs which party in parliament to join now FFP had been disbanded.
Asked if the rump of the grouping would still hold together without its key figures, who were banned by the court from politics for 10 years, he said the FFP had already transformed from a mere political party into an established ideology. Chatchawal Khong-udom, leader of the Palang Thong Thin Thai Party, said up to 10 MPs from the dissolved FFP have contacted the party to discuss the possibility of joining.
Mr Chatchawal said preliminary negotiations were being held and it was up to the MPs to decide if they want to join his party, which is a member of the coalition.
Chatchai Chanpraisri, a member of the Election Commission, also said yesterday the case against FFP was not politically motivated and that it had actually been triggered by facts made known to the public by the former party leader.
He said the poll commissioners did nothing other than gather facts, review those facts and the political party law, and submit these findings to the Constitutional Court for review.
Separately, the US Embassy in Bangkok reacted to the disbanding of the FFP by saying the court decision risked disenfranchising the party’s voters and raised questions about their representation within Thailand’s electoral system.
It said the US strongly supports democratic governance around the world, and appreciates Thailand’s recent seating of a democratically elected government.
It said that while the US does not favour or support any particular political party in Thailand, more than six million voters chose the Future Forward Party in the March 24 elections.
“The decision to disband the party risks disenfranchising those voters and raises questions about their representation within Thailand’s electoral system,” the embassy said in its statement.
>>The disbandment of Future Forward Party (FFP), ordered by the Constitutional Court on Friday, could actually help the opposition, analysts say. It may lose a number of votes in the upcoming censure debate, but will likely gain more sympathy and even support from the public in its fight to bring down the coalition government.
The opposition now aims to generate a “crisis of confidence” in the government, which could place it under pressure no matter how many votes of confidence it will gains in this week’s no-confidence debate, said opposition chief whip Sutin Klungsang of the Pheu Thai Party.
The opposition didn’t expect to persuade the government with its arguments but to show why it shouldn’t be trusted to continue leading the country, he said.
“We will gain more sympathy from society while the government will simply have more hands to raise to support it [in the no-confidence vote],” he said. “We may be worse off in parliament, but overall we will be in a better position given the psychological impact of the FFP’s disbandment on society.”
Information prepared by the FFP for the coming debate had been passed on to other opposition MPs who will cover this part of the debate for the FFP, he said.
Pheu Thai director Thanusak
Lek-uthai agreed that a number of the remaining FFP MPs are expected to defect to the coalition government, boosting its numbers in parliament.
But on the other hand, internal conflicts in the government could intensify as parties start to demand a better deal for being part of the coalition, he said.
Pheu Thai itself would also have to rethink its political strategies as new movements for change start to emerge both inside and outside parliament, he said.
Deputy Democrat Party leader Nipit Intarasombat, meanwhile, admitted the government did have a problem with its unity as a result of its consisting of several factions.
These cliques are under pressure as they live with the prospect the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will find their conduct wanting, he said.
He predicted the coalition will manage to stay on until the end of its four-year term and might even mount a comeback after the next election.
Assoc Prof Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political science lecturer with Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, agreed the opposition would lose its strength in the censure debate, while the government’s future would depend largely on how it deals with its internal conflicts.
He expected a cabinet reshuffle some time in the middle of this year, saying those ministers receiving low votes of support in the no-confidence vote would be replaced.