Politicians press for removal of activities ban now that mourning period over

[webfact]

Politicians press for removal of activities ban now that mourning period over

By The Nation

 

Politicians have urged the National Council for Peace and Order to relax its ban on political activities now that the mourning period for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej has ended.
 

When the organic law on political parties took effect in the first week of October, the NCPO said the lifting of the ban had to wait at least until the Royal Cremation Ceremony was completed.

 

Watana Muangsook, a leading member of the Pheu Thai Party, wrote on Facebook on Monday, slamming the junta for having “no shame” in saying that it had not convened about the matter.

 

The former commerce minister said he would “not call for anything, because after all the power belonged to the people and the NCPO would not be able to resist it”.

 

Describing the junta administration as inefficient, Watana said it should stop playing for time and hurry to lift the ban in order to take the country towards democracy.

 

The junta should also revoke any orders that restricted rights and freedom, as well as drop charges against dissidents, he wrote.

 

Somsak Prisananatakul, an adviser to the Chart Thai Pattana Party, on Sunday called for NCPO chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha to allow political activities as it had been nearly a month since the political parties law had become effective.

 

With the ban still in place, Somsak said that political parties had lost the opportunity to make arrangements in line with the new law.

 

He was particularly concerned for the bigger parties with a large number of members to reach out to, he said, adding that the process would take some time to complete.

 

The junta should not be worried that there would be any disorder if it lifted the ban, the veteran politician argued, implying that parties would all be too busy reaching out to their membership.

 

Sathit Pitutaecha, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, said he believed now was the time to get back to the roadmap and head towards a national election.

 

There should not be any violence in the current situation, he said, reasoning that in the past, violence had arisen because a certain group of people had used it in order to bid for power.

 

For his own party, he said they were merely preparing to complete the arrangements as required by the new law.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30330413

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-10-31

[webfact]

Anxious politicians urge junta to lift ban on activities

By THE NATION

 

File Photo: Prawit Wongsuwan

 

THE BAN on political activities that the junta has used to control the behaviour of politicians, academics and activists remains in place although the late King’s mourning period has ended and the organic law governing political parties has been promulgated.

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the governing arm of the military junta, had not yet convened to discuss the matter.

 

“The Royal Cremation Ceremony has just finished and we have not convened yet. Why do you have to demand that now?” Prawit said. “We have to consider it first. All this time there has been activism in many sectors that still stir up disorder.”

 

The clock is ticking for politicians to complete arrangements prescribed by the new organic law on political parties that came into effect early this month.

 

Political parties must update their registration books within 90 days and collect annual membership fees within 180 days. Failure to comply with the new instructions could make them ineligible to field candidates in the next election.

 

In the past couple of days, politicians have publicly urged the NCPO to relax the ban on political activities now that the mourning period has ended.

 

When the organic law came into effect in the first week of October, the NCPO said the removal of the ban had to wait at least until the cremation ceremony was completed.

 

Watana Muangsook, a leading member of Pheu Thai Party, wrote on Facebook yesterday, slamming the junta for having no shame in saying it had not convened to discuss the matter.

 

The former commerce minister said that he would not call for anything because the power belonged to the people and the NCPO would not be able to resist it.

 

Describing the junta administration as “inefficient”, Watana said it should stop playing for time and hurry to lift the ban to move the country towards democracy.

 

Sathit Pitutaecha, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, said he believed it was now time to get back to the “road map to democracy” towards an election. His party, he said, was preparing to complete the arrangements as required by the new law.

 

Meanwhile, Constitution Drafting Commission chairman Meechai Ruchuphan said yesterday that due to the total lack of applications for membership on the new Election Commission (EC), the applicant committee might choose to approach specific, qualified people to fill the new board.

 

The application period opened on October 19 and will close on November 10. No one has applied so far.

 

Meechai said it is still possible that candidates could come forward before the application closing date. “We still have time to wait and see,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30330434

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-10-31

[Samui Bodoh]

4 minutes ago, webfact said:

Failure to comply with the new instructions could make them ineligible to field candidates in the next election.

I suspect that this is the reason for the roadblocks and delays; make a lot of complicated rules then ban parties for not complying with them.

 

Of course, it won't apply to the Dems...

 

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Describing the junta administration as “inefficient”

That´s one way of putting it.

[rkidlad]

Hold your horses, politicians! I wanna a few assurances before you guys start taking liberties with your basic rights;

 

Are the organic laws being promulgated? Are the junta still following the roadmap? If yes, we can discuss a date some time next year about when people can exercise their basic rights again. 

[JAG]

Now let's not be hasty. We've just appointed another 34 of our friends and family - sorry I meant "officers", to the staff of the NCPO. Now obviously there were urgent tasks waiting which needed these good people's particular qualities to tackle them. It will take some time inevitably for these new people to bed in, settle down and start producing the appropriate results. We must give them that time.

Anyway, political activity is inappropriate whilst these serious tasks are being tackled, and who knows what problems lie ahead...

Maybe next year - let's see where the roadmap leads.

[AGareth2]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Sathit Pitutaecha, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, said he believed now was the time to get back to the roadmap and head towards a national election.

 

There should not be any violence in the current situation, he said, reasoning that in the past, violence had arisen because a certain group of people had used it in order to bid for power.

I wonder who that group could be?

[yellowboat]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Describing the junta administration as “inefficient”, Watana said it should stop playing for time and hurry to lift the ban to move the country towards democracy.

This is the worst accusation yet of the all powerful junta.  You have full control and do not have any due process for anything, and yet you cannot get anything done.  The problem is they possibly lack the actual skills to get anything done, or they really do not care one way or the other.   

[TKDfella]

Or is the junta testing the ground...what will happen if the junta simply let 'time run out'. Who will do What...and then get the blame for unrest and reason for the junta to continue eh?

[YetAnother]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

All this time there has been activism in many sectors that still stir up disorder.”

here we go, an early glimpse of the 'people are not ready yet' excuses that will come in the gear up for elections

[Andycoops]

4 hours ago, yellowboat said:

This is the worst accusation yet of the all powerful junta.  You have full control and do not have any due process for anything, and yet you cannot get anything done.  The problem is they possibly lack the actual skills to get anything done, or they really do not care one way or the other.   

Of course they don't care. They are to busy filling their pockets. 

[Srikcir]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

“The Royal Cremation Ceremony has just finished and we have not convened yet.

Actually not true as the NCPO did issue an order to revoke city planning in the Eastern Economic Corridor.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30330349