People’s Party clarifies lack of flood relief
Giving handouts even in a time of need would break election laws prior to the upcoming Phitsanulok by-election, Natthaphong says
Opposition leader People’s Party said on Wednesday that it was refraining from giving handouts to flood victims in several provinces to avoid breaking election laws close to the by-election in Phitsanulok province on September 15.
“The law prohibits political parties from offering gifts or handouts up to 180 days before the election,” party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut explained on Wednesday. He was responding to criticism of the party’s absence from nationwide flood relief efforts by several public and private agencies.
“I am not saying that giving handouts is wrong,” he said. “Looking back, you will see that MPs under the People's Party have always given rice and dried food to the people during critical times.”
Natthaphong added that giving any handout must consider the people’s needs and refrain from creating a patronage system that makes recipients feel they need to reciprocate.
When asked about the comparisons being made between the People Party’s actions in the flood situation and that of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Natthaphong said it was up to the Election Commission to decide which actions are considered as breaking election laws.
Thaksin, father of PM Paetongtarn, was in Chiang Rai earlier this week to offer moral support to flood victims in the northern province.
The by-election in Phitsanulok province’s constituency 1 will be held on September 15 to fill an MP seat previously belonging to Padipat Suntiphada, an executive of the now-defunct Move Forward Party who was banned from politics by the Constitutional Court.
As a reincarnation of Move Forward, People’s Party needs to win the seat to keep its total in the House from falling any further. The party is fielding Natachanon Chanaburanasak, a 34-year-old advisor to Padipat, as its candidate.
