PHEU THAI PARTY STATEMENT

We Protest the Deferment of the Organic Law

for the
Election of the Members of Parliament

The Drafting Committee for the organic laws on
the Election of Members of Parliament, B.E…… gained a majority vote to
amend Section 2 of the said charter, which will become effective 90 days after
it is published in the Royal Gazette.  The
president of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has called a meeting to
consider this matter on January 25, 2018. 
Pursuant to this,

Pheu Thai Party sees that committee’s
resolution goes against the constitution and carries a hidden agenda.  It is a dishonest act by those in power to seek
political advantage in power in order to hold on to power and remain in power.  It is an act that lacks morality and
responsibility to the sovereignty of the people and is devoid of all reasoning, namely

1.  The
National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has used mechanisms or ‘miracle
laws’ on several occasions which showed that it wants to stay in power for as
long as possible.  It started with the
dissolution of the charter drafted by the drafting committee headed by Mr. Borwornsak
Uwanno who implied that the dissolution was due to the NCPO’s desire to perpetuate
power.  Later, when the 2017
charter was drafted, it was inlaid with mechanisms that would push back
the election date further, such as, by setting down that the  drafting of the organic laws would take 240 days, which does not include the time it would take for the
NLA and other organizations to scrutinize it. 
This differs from the coup that took place on September 19,
2006 for which the draft interim charter specified that
the organic law for election should be done within 45 days
from the day that the draft is completed (without having to wait for it to be
published in the Royal Gazette).

At the same time, the NCPO had used its power
to issue announcements and orders banning political parties from holding any
political activities since it came to power. 
Section 268 of the constitution specified that the
election of Members of Parliament (MPs) shall be done within 150 days
from the date that the four organic laws come into effect.  The four organic laws are laws governing the
election of MPs; election of the Senators; election of the Election Committee
(EC) and the Political Parties.  The 2007 constitution also specified that the election of MPs shall
be done within 90 days, while the election of senators
shall be done within 150 days from the day that these two
organic laws come into effect.  So, it
can be seen that there is a big difference between the time frames given.  Moreover, if the NCPO and the EC see the
importance of having an election, they would have had the four organic laws
drafted at the beginning rather than have them drafted toward the end, even
though Section 267 of the constitution gave priorities to
these four organic laws.

2. 
The organic law on political parties, which recognized the status
of the existing parties and allowed them to verify their members and set out
the time frame to prepare for the elections, were already in effect.  However, the NCPO and the EC implied that the
NCPO’s announcement no. 57/2557, which bans political parties from
holding activities, and the NCPO chief’s order no. 3/2558, which
bans political gathering, were still in effect, causing the political parties
to be unable to carry out their activities in accordance with the law.  Instead of lifting these announcements, the
NCPO chief issued the order no. 53/2560 which annuls the memberships of the
existing parties and sets out new conditions and time frames for the political
parties which are detrimental to the existing parties.  At the same time, the order favours those who
are preparing to set up new political parties to support the transfer of power
for the NCPO chief without giving importance on whether it may go
against the constitution or will affect the rights and freedom of the political
parties and their members.

3. 
At the time of drafting the organic law on the election of MPs, the
NLA’s ad hoc committee proposed, instead, to defer the election date by
another 90 days, citing that the conditions and timeframe stated in the NCPO
chief’s order no. 53/2560 would pose a problem for the political parties.  Pheu Thai Party sees that this resolution
lacks legitimacy and rational, as follows:

3.1 
The intendment of Section 268 of the constitution sets out that the
election shall take place within 150 days from the day that the four organic
laws take effect.  This signifies that all
concerned shall work within the said time frame.  The committee’s 90-day extension is a
deliberate violation of the constitution. 
It is not just a “miracle law” but a “deceptive law”
as well.

3.2 There
is no clause in the NCPO chief’s order no. 53/2560 that the committee may use
as a pretext to push back the election date. 
On the contrary, clause 8 of the order sets out that the  day the organic law on the election of MPs
comes into effect, the NCPO’s announcements and orders issued by the NCPO chief
shall cease, including the NCPO announcement no. 57/2557 and the NCPO chief’s
order no. 3/2558 as well.  Therefore,
the extension by another 90 days for this law to take effect will further push
back the date to lift the ban on political parties to hold their general
meetings to amend rules and regulations for the appointment of their executive
directors; to set up branches and to accept new memberships, by another 90 days as
well.

3.3 
The 90-day extension will have several repercussions.  Firstly, it will keep the NCPO
announcement no. 57/2557 and the NCPO chief’s order no. 3/2558 intact.  The political parties will not be able
to conduct their activities and the people will not be able to hold political
gatherings.  Secondly, the
political parties will not be able to hold meetings to amend their rules and
regulations, or appoint their executive directors, or set up branches or make
preparations for the election until the 90-day extension period is up
and both the NCPO announcement and the NCPO chief’s orders are lifted.

3.4 
The extension period will allow the NCPO, the NLA and organizations
that come under the NCPO network, to remain in power in order to create a
political advantage and  benefit from the
state budgets through the different positions that they are holding.  This paves the way for the NCPO chief,
who sits as prime minister, to be able to make use of the government resources
to campaign in advance of the election.

4. 
The extension for the law to come into effect will benefit the new
political parties that will be established, especially those who are in support
of Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister.  Apart from gaining advantage from the NCPO
chief’s order no. 53/2560 for which they will be able to hold meetings, seek out
members or those who share similar ideologies, prepare their candidates, or may
be able to start their election campaigns from March 1, 2018, the 90-day
extension will also give these political groups a full year to field their
candidates.  The existing political
parties, meanwhile, will not be able to take such actions until the NCPO’s
announcement no. 57/2557 and the NCPO chief’s order no. 3/2558 are lifted.  This can happen only when the election laws come
into effect.  Therefore, the longer the
extension, the more affect it will have on the existing political parties.

5. 
It has become apparent that the NCPO and the “5 rivers”
have tried to use their authorities and use the legal process that they
themselves created, including the use of power as NCPO chief, as given
in Section 44 of the interim charter 2014, to issue orders that would directly
affect the election and the political parties in order to gain a
political advantage for the NCPO and those who support them.  While at the same time, the existing political
parties are not able to hold any political activities.  It can be clearly seen that the upcoming
election will definitely not be a free and fair one, in accordance with the
international standard.

6.  The NCPO chief and prime minister
had announced to the Thai people and to the other nations, with reaffirmations,
that there will be an election in November 2018.  So, to postpone the election will
result in a significant loss of confidence for the country, both within the
country and to the outside world.

Pheu Thai Party would like to protest
against the 90-day extension of the law to come into effect, or whatever number
of days it may be, and we would like to call on all the involved organizations
to stop harming the country through the use of deceptive laws and to expedite
the return of power to the people as announced in the road map.

For the kind information.
Pheu Thai Party
January 24, 2018