General News : Monday December 10, 2007
Any dissolution order must go to the court
NATTAYA CHETCHOTIROS
The People Power party (PPP) cannot be dissolved before the Dec 23 election even if it is found to have committed major electoral offences, according to the Election Commission (EC), which meets tomorrow to rule on complaints brought against the party.
There are more complaints about the PPP than any other party, but even if the EC recommends it be dissolved the matter is unlikely to be resolved before the general election.
A key issue is the distribution of a videoclip in which deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra urges northeasterners to vote for the PPP.
If the EC finds the video violates political party and election laws, it would probably recommend the PPP be dissolved and forward the decision to the Constitution Court for approval, election commissioner Sumet Uppanisakorn said.
However, there was no possibility the PPP could be disbanded before the election, he said.
The process before the Constitution Court would take time.
EC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiygarn said the PPP faces the largest number of complaints about violations of election laws.
The EC would also consider a document that the PPP claims to be an order from the Council for National Security telling soldiers to prevent the party winning the election, he said.
Also on the table would be a complaint by the Puea Pandin party that a PPP official had forged the signature of Puea Pandin candidate Sithichai Kwosurat on a PPP membership registration form.
"The irregular tactics of this party cause me to doubt the results of many polls showing it is the party which most people want," said Mr Suthiphon.
"If it is so confident of its support, why should it resort to so many irregular tactics?"
He said the commission was impartial in any decision involving political parties.
"It can never simply set a goal to disband any party," he said.
PPP leader Samak Sundaravej and party secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee defended the distribution of the Thaksin videoclip as VCDs. It was made before the royal decree on the Dec 23 election took effect, so the VCDs should not be held illegal, he said.
Mr Surapong said his party had nothing to do with distribution of the VCDs and it was trying to find out who was responsible for handing them out to voters.
Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said the PPP should be dissolved quickly.
The content of Mr Thaksin's video indicated that the PPP was acting as a nominee party for Mr Thaksin.
It should therefore be dissolved because Mr Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party were banned from politics.
The Constitution Tribunal on May 30 disbanded the Thai Rak Thai party and suspended its 111 executives, including Mr Thaksin, from politics for five years for electoral fraud.
They cannot return to politics behind any nominee individual or organisation during the period of the ban.
Mr Suriyasai said the PPP had breached Article 97 of the law governing political parties, which prohibits executives from any disbanded party from getting involved with any other party during the suspension period.
The offence was obvious so the matter should be decided quickly, he said. If a decision on the issue was delayed until after the election, it would confuse the public, he warned.
Opinion polls show PPP out in front. A core member of the PPP warned yesterday that attempts by the EC to punish the party could make more voters sympathetic towards it.
"Initially we didn't expect to get 200 seats in the House. Now we have lifted our target to exceed that figure, including seats in Bangkok where we are likely to win more than 20 seats," said the party member.
Bangkok has 36 seats.
Sukhum Chaloeisap, director of the Suan Dusit Poll Centre, said survey results suggested the PPP would emerge from the election with at least 200 seats in the House of Representatives.
By : Bangkok Post
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