MEET BOYCOTT ‘COULD LEAD TO POLL DELAY’

>> The Pheu Thai and Future Forward parties have been warned their staying away from meeting with the regime to discuss poll preparations could result in further delays in the election date, according to the Chartthaipattana Party.

Paradorn Prisnanantakul, a Chartthaipattana core leader, said the parties should join the poll preparation discussion with the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) tomorrow.

A refusal to take part in the meeting could be construed by the regime as lack of cooperation, which it could then cite as a condition to further delay the poll set for February next year, said Mr Paradorn who will represent his party at the meeting tomorrow.

However, Mr Paradorn insisted the meeting would not lead to parties being manipulated by the NCPO. He said the session was designed so that both the regime and the parties could reach an understanding about what has to be done to make the poll preparations smooth and proceed according to the election roadmap.

Pheu Thai and the Future Forward parties may believe parties’ suggestions, regarding electioneering and how to solve problems from new election rules and regulations, are unlikely to be taken up by the NCPO, he said.

“But when there is a chance to express our thoughts we should not pass up on it,” he said.

Mr Paradorn said the Chartthaipattana has drawn up a list of poll-related issues to be discussed with the government and the NCPO, although it has no idea how the session will turn out.

The party’s expectation is for the regime to listen to the parties’ input, rather than dominating the session by speaking only about what it wants the parties to do, Mr Paradorn said.

The suggestions from parties should be incorporated into the authorities’ poll organising plan, which can help prevent disruption and glitches.

Meanwhile, Chaturon Chaisang, a prominent member of the Pheu Thai, said the session should have been organised by the Election Commission (EC), not the NCPO.

It is also not the NCPO’s job to set the election date. That, too, is the EC’s responsibility.

“It’s a matter of a mismatch of duties,” he said.

As it is widely agreed the political activities ban should be lifted to allow parties to convene meetings and launch poll preparations, the EC should invite parties to air their demands to solve technical and legal hurdles in the poll. After that, the EC should gather the parties’ demands and problems and convey them to the government and the NCPO, Mr Chaturon said.

He said Gen Prayut, as head of the NCPO and of the government, is no longer an impartial figure since his involvement in national politics and his ambition to return as premier were becoming increasingly apparent. Gen Prayut, therefore, lacked the neutrality to send out invitations to political parties to the meeting.

Mr Chaturon also accused the prime minister of doing the opposite of what he preaches.

While Gen Prayut repeatedly said he wished to see a free and fair election, many former MPs were being “siphoned off” of their parties to defect to a newly-set up, pro-regime political party.