Legal challenge to junta order could derail election road map

[webfact]

Legal challenge to junta order could derail election road map

By KHANITTHA THEPPHAJORN 
THE NATION 

 

 

EXPERTS WARN OF NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES AGAINST USE OF ARTICLE 44 TO AMEND POLITICAL PARTY LAW

 

IF THE Constitutional Court were to rule, in an upcoming decision, that the recent junta order amending the political party law was unconstitutional, it would probably bring about negative consequences for existing parties and Thai politics as a whole, including derailing the November election, political scientists said yesterday.

 

Trakul Meechai

 

Trakul Meechai, a senior political science expert at Chulalongkorn University, said that if the court struck down NCPO Order No 53/2560 as unconstitutional, there could be resultant problems and difficulties.

 

“If the order rules that Article 44 has limits and may not be used to amend the political party law, all the amendments will become invalid and the original conditions and timeframes for political parties will have to be abided by. And political parties will be affected,” Trakul said.

 

He added, however, that he believed the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) would try to find ways to lessen the impact and to prevent a political deadlock resulting from such a ruling.

 

As the NCPO chief, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha in mid-December issued the order to extend political parties’ administrative deadlines with the stated purpose of facilitating party activities, including updating and registering membership lists, which would otherwise have had to be completed this month. The order was issued under the all-powerful Article 44 of the 2014 provisional charter, a power that has been retained and repeatedly used despite promulgation of the current 2016 Constitution.

 

The two major parties, Pheu Thai and the Democrats, have decided to separately seek a Constitutional Court ruling as to whether the NCPO order is constitutional. The parties have each cited various reasons on how the order could put them at a disadvantage ahead of the next election.

 

Chaiyan Chaiyaporn

 

Chaiyan Chaiyaporn, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said yesterday that he believes the political parties’ challenge to the NCPO order would lead to negative political impacts.

 

He said it could affect the NCPO’s road map promising an election late this year.

 

The lecturer said that if the court nullifies the NCPO order and the original political party law is retained, there would be “a lot of confusion in Thai politics”. Many political parties would be affected, or even lose their status, as they would be unable to complete certain requirements within the original deadlines, he explained.

 

Chaiyan said that although powers under Article 44 are guaranteed by the current charter, invoking it needs to be strictly limited for matters of national interest and must not lead to widespread confusion.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30336052

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-01-12

[yellowboat]

So the A44 shortcut has turned into a road block on the juntas long detour back to democracy ?   The elite loves shortcuts but not their consequences.   Think somebody will need a new watch. 

[rkidlad]

You mean the election (with no fixed date) may be delayed AGAIN!?!

 

[AGareth2]

Ah!

I have a cunning plan!

[jonclark]

The lecturer said ...... there would be “a lot of confusion in Thai politics."

 

Please tell me when there hasn't been. 

 

Politicians in Thailand need to set up a committee and use a map to find their own backside such is the level of confusion.

[RichardColeman]

So, now the junta could actually say 'well, we promised elections, but politicians delayed them'. I see that as a coming tag line.

[rkidlad]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“a lot of confusion in Thai politics”

No, this is biggest trick in their book. There is nothing confusing about Thai politics. It's a simple as different tribes all fighting to be at the trough. They're not in it to help anyone but themselves. This isn't a unique situation. It boils down to different groups of people wanting all the money, power and status. They don't care how they get it. 

 

Sadly, there are people here who don't look at this for what it is - shamelessly abhorrent - they simply look at it like, "I'd be doing the same thing if I were in their position". 

 

Cheques and balances. Without rule of law you just have face-saving pandemonium. Democracy can't work in a society that is lawless and so inherently corrupt. It needs rule of law and some measure of fairness. That would mean people having to share and people being made to take responsibility for their actions. 

Edited January 12, 2018 by rkidlad

[Media1]

The Nation lol haha. There are no excuses left !

Election  time is coming. How much did you pay that muppet. it's taken 4 years to for Prayut. It shows his utter incompetence. Reforms what a absolute laugh..A disgrace and one to learn from..The next PM will have it easy.

[blubb]

So how about modify the rules? They have the power to adjust it to their needed, all is good now, it was never better, why changes? 

[DM07]

How can something be "derailed" that isn't even "railed"?

 

[blubb]

40 minutes ago, Media1 said:

The Nation lol haha. There are no excuses left !

Election  time is coming. How much did you pay that muppet. it's taken 4 years to for Prayut. It shows his utter incompetence. Reforms what a absolute laugh..A disgrace and one to learn from..The next PM will have it easy.

 

You're bit unfair or you don t know how it was 10 and 5 years before. For now you can see there are changes, good changes, less motorbikes on the footpath, do you remember how it was before?  At Silom full of stalls, there was no place to walk, wonderful now. The laws a more enforced as it was before. Do you really think someone other make it different or better? I think not. It is good as it is now. I can live with that.

 

Can you give some details about the incompetence you talking about or you just trolling? 

 

      Cheers

[Ossy]

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Cheques and balances. Without rule of law you just have face-saving pandemonium. Democracy can't work in a society that is lawless and so inherently corrupt. It needs rule of law and some measure of fairness. That would mean people having to share and people being made to take responsibility for their actions. 

Edited 1 hour ago by rkidlad

Chilling comment, rkidlad. This current imbalance between (A) a junta seeking a no-strings-attached handover to democratic rule, and (B) the actual junta, full of its tricks, lies and play-acting is actually starting to make me sick with revulsion against these evil 'animals' who have the effrontery to present themselves - as and when the mood takes them - as politicians, whose main priority is a peaceful and secure Thailand. That nothing could be further from the truth is so clear to everyone, regardless of class or shirt-colour it simply beggars belief that the penny hasn't dropped, between the 2P's.

Or perhaps they actually know that their popularity has fallen to next to nothing and are just putting on a desperate charade that things are still under some form of control.

But, like I say, it's actually getting so smelly and inhumane that what was previously a passionate interest in Thai politics has turned to disgust and despair.

I'm sorry for such a gloomy response, rkidlad . . . I'm sure you deserved better.

Edited January 12, 2018 by Ossy
meaning

[TKDfella]

All sounds like a deliberate ploy...'my way or no way..' if you see what I mean.

[brucec64]

1 hour ago, blubb said:

 

You're bit unfair or you don t know how it was 10 and 5 years before. For now you can see there are changes, good changes, less motorbikes on the footpath, do you remember how it was before?  At Silom full of stalls, there was no place to walk, wonderful now. The laws a more enforced as it was before. Do you really think someone other make it different or better? I think not. It is good as it is now. I can live with that.

 

Can you give some details about the incompetence you talking about or you just trolling? 

 

      Cheers

 

Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Prayut cleared the footpaths. 

 

You really have a low bar for being satisfied. The rest of the world expects a little bit more from their government.

 

[saakura]

3 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

 

Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Prayut cleared the footpaths. 

 

You really have a low bar for being satisfied. The rest of the world expects a little bit more from their government.

 

Umm well, what about the fact that he also lowered the lottery ticket prices to 80 baht and motorcycle taxis now wear a n orange vest  ??

[brucec64]

Umm well, what about the fact that he also lowered the lottery ticket prices to 80 baht and motorcycle taxis now wear a n orange vest [emoji2] ??

I stand corrected. The man is a genius and the saviour of Thailand.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[blubb]

4 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

 

Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Prayut cleared the footpaths. 

 

You really have a low bar for being satisfied. The rest of the world expects a little bit more from their government.

 

 

We are not talking about the other world here, for Thailand that a lot, compared before never anything like this happened!  What exactly

changed which was 'better' before? Or you just trolling too? 

 

[brucec64]

 
We are not talking about the other world here, for Thailand that a lot, compared before never anything like this happened!  What exactly
changed which was 'better' before? Or you just trolling too? 
 

There were very big promises made for reforms and only small superficial changes done only for the purpose of fooling the naive. Can a coup be justified because footpaths were cleared?

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[billd766]

17 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

 

Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Prayut cleared the footpaths. 

 

You really have a low bar for being satisfied. The rest of the world expects a little bit more from their government.

 

 

The rest of the world really doesn't care what is going on in Thailand. Many of the people are more interested in getting food to eat, clean water, a roof over their head, even just staying alive for many is difficult. There are so many civil wars raging around the world, refugees from many countries trying to get to a safe haven, not knowing where their families are or even if they are alive.

 

There is a small number of western posters tut tutting and complaining but few listen to them. There is an American President who is/was taking the world towards another war with a possibility of it going nuclear. There is a movement called #metoo where women are taking on men for things that happened many years ago.

 

Do you believe that any of them care about democracy or not in Thailand.

 

Do you believe that any of the 30 million tourists who come to Thailand every year from all over the world even know or care about democracy in Thailand.

 

Think about that when you say that the rest of the world expects more from the Thai government.

 

Most of the world neither knows or cares.

[blubb]

37 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

There were very big promises made for reforms and only small superficial changes done only for the purpose of fooling the naive. Can a coup be justified because footpaths were cleared?

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

If you don t want see it,  you wont see them. I think the coup was necessary and a great success. Personally, I do not care in which

form they rule I'm the guest here. From my point of view i see the positive changes. Which I cant see / find before.  If i do not like them

or if you cant accept it, just leave. Maybe go back to US, or England?               

[candide]

1 hour ago, blubb said:

 

If you don t want see it,  you wont see them. I think the coup was necessary and a great success. Personally, I do not care in which

form they rule I'm the guest here. From my point of view i see the positive changes. Which I cant see / find before.  If i do not like them

or if you cant accept it, just leave. Maybe go back to US, or England?               

Well, if the Junta is so reluctant to see free and fair elections happening, maybe it's because Thai people don't see the many positive changes you are seeing?

Edited January 12, 2018 by candide

[brucec64]

Well, if the Junta is so reluctant to see free and fair elections happening, maybe it's because Thai people don't see the many positive changes you are seeing?

Maybe all the Thais have not seen the cleared footpath in front of his house? If they did, they would surely forget about the massive economic harm and loss of human rights that have resulted from the coup and junta government.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Ossy]

News just in: Contrary to reports that the not-yet-railed Roadmap could be derailed by legislative manoeuvring, our illustrious would-be-wanna-be-will-be Prime Minister has just left Government House, carrying a megaphone and a huge bag of Oreos, in what we are assured will be an appropriate vehicle and reassuring everybody that there's no need to worry about him not being on TV next Christmas. What a man . . . and he does apologise if that was your tuc-tuc he's just flattened.

Edited January 12, 2018 by Ossy
spelling

[billd766]

4 hours ago, brucec64 said:

Maybe all the Thais have not seen the cleared footpath in front of his house? If they did, they would surely forget about the massive economic harm and loss of human rights that have resulted from the coup and junta government.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

If this government is inflicting massive economic harm on Thailand I would have thought that the THB would be in the same position as the Zimbabwe dollar was in and the Venezuelan bolivar is in now. It seems however that the THB is holding its own and increasing in value against most currencies. From what I read in the "other" English language paper countries and individuals are investing in Thai government bonds etc and there is an inflow of foreign currency to the SET.

 

It seems as though foreigners are investing in Thailand and the foreign currency reserves are the highest they have ever been, even under Thaksins many governments.

 

Not too bad for a country under a military government.

 

I haven't heard you shouting about the loss of human rights in the neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Malaysia or Cambodia where there is a far greater loss of human rights and where in Myanmar the government/army have been killing hundreds of Rohingya and expelling them from the country.

[brucec64]

46 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

If this government is inflicting massive economic harm on Thailand I would have thought that the THB would be in the same position as the Zimbabwe dollar was in and the Venezuelan bolivar is in now. It seems however that the THB is holding its own and increasing in value against most currencies. From what I read in the "other" English language paper countries and individuals are investing in Thai government bonds etc and there is an inflow of foreign currency to the SET.

 

It seems as though foreigners are investing in Thailand and the foreign currency reserves are the highest they have ever been, even under Thaksins many governments.

 

Not too bad for a country under a military government.

 

I haven't heard you shouting about the loss of human rights in the neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Malaysia or Cambodia where there is a far greater loss of human rights and where in Myanmar the government/army have been killing hundreds of Rohingya and expelling them from the country.

The harm has already been done with the economic losses over the last 3 years. 

 

An Economist article in 2014 predicted that the cost of the coup would be 20 to 30 billion dollars due to lost GDP growth. This has occurred, and only this year has GDP growth returned to 2013 levels. This loaa is much higher than any estimate of losses from the rice scheme. 

 

"The costs to Thailand’s economy are still piling up. Compared with trend economic growth the cost will be perhaps $20 billion to $30 billion from 2014 to 2016,"

 

https://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-economy

 

Foreign direct investment was trending up until 2013 and trending down since the coup:

 

 

And since this is a Thaivisa site, it is not the forum to discuss human rights violations in other countries. That is a classic deflection and not really relevant to the discussion on THai government human rights violations.

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by brucec64

[Jonah Tenner]

13 hours ago, jonclark said:

Politicians in Thailand need to set up a committee and use a map to find their own backside such is the level of confusion.

You are too kind to them. 

 

Politicians everywhere needs a map, gps and a ground radar to find their own a***h**e, and even then they have trouble differentiating between that and a hole in the ground

[billd766]

21 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

The harm has already been done with the economic losses over the last 3 years. 

 

An Economist article in 2014 predicted that the cost of the coup would be 20 to 30 billion dollars due to lost GDP growth. This has occurred, and only this year has GDP growth returned to 2013 levels. This loaa is much higher than any estimate of losses from the rice scheme. 

 

"The costs to Thailand’s economy are still piling up. Compared with trend economic growth the cost will be perhaps $20 billion to $30 billion from 2014 to 2016,"

 

https://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-economy

 

Foreign direct investment was trending up until 2013 and trending down since the coup:

 

 

And since this is a Thaivisa site, it is not the forum to discuss human rights violations in other countries. That is a classic deflection and not really relevant to the discussion on THai government human rights violations.

 

 

It looks to me much the same from before the coup until now. Up and down in the same year.

 

This IS a Thai visa site but NOT exclusively Thai.

 

Human rights are human rights anywhere and NOT exclusive to Thailand.

[brucec64]

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

 

It looks to me much the same from before the coup until now. Up and down in the same year.

 

This IS a Thai visa site but NOT exclusively Thai.

 

Human rights are human rights anywhere and NOT exclusive to Thailand.

Obviously you can't read a trend line. But don't let facts get in the way of blind sycophancy..

[Chris Lawrence]

To read the OP you might think there is something like check and balances? However who is pulling the media strings. And who's hands does a further delay in elections favour. 

 

For my money this is just political spin, favouring the incumbent. Does Abhisit really believe he has another shot at the title: will the mad monk be disrobed and join his leader? More will be revealed in Days of Our Lives, continues.