Political ban ‘here to stay’

THE BAN on political activities will continue despite the promulgation of the political party organic law, the government and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) have insisted.
“The ban will not be lifted unless the organic laws are finished. And we don’t know when they will be or when the election will be held. There is still time,” Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday.
Four organic laws regarding the Election Commission, political parties, MPs and the Senate need to be completed to pave the way for the next election. The first two laws are already in effect but the other two are still being drafted.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam asked political parties to be “patient” and wait until the Royal Cremation Ceremony ends before the NCPO can consider removing the ban.
The Royal Cremation for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej is scheduled for October 25 to 29.
Wissanu said the junta understood that there were deadlines that political parties had to meet before the next election and was attempting to expedite the enactment of the relevant law to allow parties time to prepare.
But he said the Election Commission might not be ready to deal with parties following the new law, which could cause a delay in lifting the ban in addition to that related to the Royal Cremation.
He added that political parties had to wait a little longer, although that should not cause problems and they should be able to meet deadlines without difficulty.
The NCPO and the Cabinet will meet separately today at Government House, but Wissanu said he was not sure whether the NCPO would discuss lifting the ban as it was not on the agenda.
Surachai Liengboonlertchai, vice president of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), said yesterday that the lifting of the ban could be expected soon.
A ban on political activities of more than five people has been imposed since 2014 when the NCPO took power.
Politicians are calling on the NCPO to loosen its grip on political activities after the Royal funeral.

New requirements
Samart Kaewmeechai, former Chiang Rai MP for Pheu Thai Party, said there were many things parties had to do to follow the new law, including reporting changes in their membership to the registrar within 90 days, setting up branches in provinces and recruiting new members within 180 days.
But because of the existing ban on political gatherings, it was impossible for parties to carry out any activities, Samart said. He also asked whether the organic law or NCPO order was more important.
The head of the Democrat Party’s legal team, Wirat Kalayasiri, said due to mechanisms introduced in the new law, including the primary voting system, political parties needed to begin election preparations as soon as possible to keep up with innovations.
Parties should be allowed to perform activities as long as they did not incite people, Wirat said.
Chart Thai Pattana Party director Nikorn Chamnong agreed that parties had a lot of preparations to meet the requirements of the new law and be ready for the future election. He added that the NCPO should revise its ban after the Royal Cremation ceremonies.
Supachai Chaisamut, deputy secretary-general of the Bhum Jai Thai Party, said the ban needed to be lifted to avoid a negative impact on political parties that would not be able to convene and resume activities.
He said the NCPO should gradually relax its grip on some issues if it was still concerned about specific problems.
However, political parties should have enough freedom to work on issues addressed in the law, Supachai said.