Organic bill on parties to be reviewed

The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) is likely to review four points in its organic bill governing political parties, CDC member Udom Rathamarit says.

Mr Udom said the four issues were raised by participants at the CDC-sponsored forum on the bill and the charter panel is ready to give them a second glance. Up to 40 parties attended the forum in Bangkok yesterday, though the main ones, Pheu Thai and the Democrats, stayed away.

They involve the number of founding members of a political party; the start-up membership fee of 2,000 baht; the annual membership fee of 100 baht; and punishments against offenders.

However, Mr Udom insisted the bill has been written to reflect the 2014 interim charter which demands mechanisms to ensure the transparency and independence of political parties.

Under the 129-section bill, setting up a party requires 500 members who must pay at least 2,000 baht but not over 500,000 baht each as a start-up fund. A party must have at least one million baht in initial funding.

Such requirements are opposed by the Chartthaipattana Party which submitted its opinions to the CDC in writing. The party has expressed concerns these requirements will make it difficult to form a political party.

The Chartthaipattana Party has also argued against a clause in the bill that bars individuals stripped of election rights from being members of parties, arguing this could violate their civil rights and liberties.

The Democrat Party, which has more than two million members, has also called on the CDC to revise regulations involving membership status to make them more practical.

The party’s concerns involve a clause that require existing party members to pay their annual membership fees within 150 days of the law coming into effect to confirm its status.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday the Pheu Thai Party was not trying to stir up conflict by refusing take part in the CDC’s forum. She said the party was staying out of it because it had gained the impression that the charter panel only wanted parties to hear what it had to say and would not listen to other opinions.