Political gigs get critics’ thumbs down
Event sponsorship not apt, says EC member
Allowing candidates running for the House of Representatives to sponsor various forms of entertainment in their election campaigns will favour big political parties and move Thailand backwards politically, Election Commission member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said yesterday.
Mr Somchai said the election on April 4, 1976, was the last poll in which MP candidates were allowed to sponsor entertainment events to draw crowds to hear them speak during their campaigns.
The election law was later amended to prohibit t he use of entertainment during campaigns.
This has been enforced ever since the April 22, 1979, election.
However, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Thursday voted not to include such a clause.
This means if a general election is held in early 2019, Thailand will revert to the election law of four decades ago, Mr Somchai said, as he reiterated his opposition to allowing election candidates to sponsor entertainment events.
Mr Somchai said allowing candidates to sponsor such events will give big parties a huge advantage over smaller parties because they usually have greater financial resources — or else they may even already be linked to entertainment businesses as owners or shareholders.
Parties already in government might also use budgets allocated to various agencies to hire star actors, actresses or singers to perform for them on the campaign trail, which would lead to unfair competition, he said.
“I believe the NLA’s decision [to leave out the entertainment ban] is simply aimed at drawing more people to listen to campaign speeches by politicians and their parties. Although the funds for this purpose are limited to an equal amount [across all parties], I think it would still be difficult for the Election Commission to ensure fairness and honesty,” he said.
It is Mr Somchai’s opinion that entertainment in any form should not be allowed. Candidates should focus on presenting useful information to help voters decide whom to vote for.
Such information, he said, includes the policies of their parties and background details on the candidates — their ideologies, their personalities and their ability to communicate with people.
Voters’ attention should be focused on the candidates’ qualifications and qualities, not on the entertainment provided, he added.
Meanwhile, Chulalongkorn University political scientist Chaiyan Chaiyaporn said the context of using entertainment in an election campaign nowadays would be different from the past.
“It will not be easy to hire entertainers to perform in political events as they would not want to be seen as attached to any political group or party,” he said.