Chart Thai Pattana concerned after just 10% of members reaffirm status by deadline

By The Nation

 

Nikorn

 

The Chart Thai Pattana Party has voiced concern after just a little over 10 per cent of its members reaffirmed their membership during the permited period, which ended on Monday.

 

Nikorn Chamnong, the party director, said Chart Thai Pattana was dissatisfied that only 2,500 out of its 24,710 registered members had confirmed their status before the confirmation period ended.

 

He said the small number of confirmed memberships would adversely affect the party’s primary voting to select its candidates for the general election.

 

The Political Parties Act requires that parties need at least 7,000 members from all over the country, a minimum 500 from their branches, and at least 120 provincial representatives in the primary voting required by law.

 

“Chart Thai Pattana has 2,500 confirmed members initially. We need 6,000 more for nationwide primary voting [to achieve party’s target of 8,500]. That’s not easy given the limited time,” Nikorn said.

 

He added that he expected old Chart Thai Pattana members who had failed to confirm their membership by the April 30 deadline to apply as new members after the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) further relaxes its restriction on political activities.

 

The veteran politician called on the authorities to review the requirement for primary voting and postpone its enforcement until the next-but-one general election.

 

The next national poll is expected to be held in February 2019.

 

He warned that without postponement of the required primary voting, both existing and new political parties “would be in trouble” and that the entire political party system would be affected.

 

A junta order issued in December allows existing political parties to have their current members confirm their membership in April.

 

Monday was the last day allowed by the order.

 

Existing parties have complained that one month is too short for the membership confirmation, as the number of members they each have ranges from several thousand to over a million.

 

Meanwhile, the Chart Pattana Party disclosed that almost one-third of its members had come to confirm their membership as of Monday.

 

Party leader Wannarat Charnnukul said that 5,583 out of its 18,163 registered members – or 30.7 per cent – had reaffirmed their membership, a number he described as “satisfactory”.

 

Wannarat said the party would seek more members and the minimum targeted number was 10,000 to facilitate the requirement for primary voting.

 

He called on the NCPO to lift its ban on political activities to allow parties to find new members and prepare for the next election.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30344347

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-01

When are they going to make some proper noise about the blatant cheating by the Junta ???

This situation has been obvious for some time, however they all just go along with it !!

 

We need those ball transplants, right now....

 

3 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

When are they going to make some proper noise about the blatant cheating by the Junta ???

This situation has been obvious for some time, however they all just go along with it !!

 

We need those ball transplants, right now....

 

No point in joining.

 

The "Party" game has been well and truly rigged.

 

Time to join the "Movement".

 

Time for........"Other Means".

 

You'll get your......."proper noise".

 

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Enoon said:

You'll get your......."proper noise".

 

I'm not so sure about that...

Think they are on the verge of breaking the Thai peoples will !!

Hope I'm wrong...

I read about this, can anyone tell me what the ramifications are for the political parties ? The way I see it the only problem would be that with less confirmed members it will be harder to justify the money they receive (I believe money has to come from members) so effectively it would cap them from spending too much on campaigning ? I could be wrong here.  

 

In the other paper i see the democrats drop van 2.500.00 members to 80.000 and the PTP from 130.000 to 10.000. (strange that the PTP has far less members then the democrats to begin with). The democrats seem to have lost the most. 

Either something is worrying them or they have come to the fact that the junta has already won by stealth and cunning !

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The next national poll is expected to be held in February 2019.

It is getting to the stage where the outcome of this election is a forgone conclusion. The junta is trying every sneaky trick in the book to hold onto power. They hold all the aces. Unlimited taxpayer money, the electoral support services of all civil servants and the judiciary and the keys to the tanks.

No one should be surprised when all is done and dusted and Prayut is back in as Prime Minister that the constitutional will be changed to hold elections every 10 years.

That way, in 2029, the junta can play the same crooked game again and stay there to see out all Prayut's 20 year plans. 

Make no mistake the world, including the UN, is watching this charade. 

Edited May 1, 20188 yr by Cadbury

18 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Make no mistake the world, including the UN, is watching this charade. 

And are doing shag all about it. Nor will they later on. 

 

What is the point in rejoining any party that isn't junta sponsored? The fix is already in.

 

 

1 hour ago, robblok said:

(I believe money has to come from members)

Rob, money can also come from donations. Perfectly legal and in line with the Organic Act on Political Party. You only need to declare the donor and is conditional. 

2 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Rob, money can also come from donations. Perfectly legal and in line with the Organic Act on Political Party. You only need to declare the donor and is conditional. 

Eric, then what is the fuzz about the member numbers ? if you just have the minimum you would be ok ?

12 minutes ago, robblok said:

Eric, then what is the fuzz about the member numbers ? if you just have the minimum you would be ok ?

Rob, with respect, I think you are rather ignoring the elephant in the room...

 

Always meant to ask you: What is a Kaaskop, by the way?

Article 44 to the rescue.

51 minutes ago, baboon said:

Rob, with respect, I think you are rather ignoring the elephant in the room...

 

Always meant to ask you: What is a Kaaskop, by the way?

Kaaskop is a dutch person/cheese head, its a slang term, actually hadnt heard it for years, had dutch friends in Australia when I was growing up

 

Edited May 1, 20188 yr by seajae

The junta planned worked.....given the apathy of Thais to get things done on time.....many either too lazy or couldn't be bothered to register!

4 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

The junta planned worked.....given the apathy of Thais to get things done on time.....many either too lazy or couldn't be bothered to register!

Really a fail proof plan stacked with unfair and complicated rules to reset membership. The plan carefully crafted  by the National Council for Peace and Order's (NCPO) refusal to allow parties to communicate messages and the ban on political activities. Nothing to do with being lazy when the plan aim to creat as much hoops and loops for the average Somchai to clear. 

1 hour ago, baboon said:

Rob, with respect, I think you are rather ignoring the elephant in the room...

 

Always meant to ask you: What is a Kaaskop, by the way?

Just poking fun of my nationality. Normal Dutch don't like to be called Kaaskop. Cheese head.

 

What is the elephant in the room Baboon ? Why are member numbers so important ? I know the junta is putting the bar higher but in this case I don't see how it damages the parties. I can see the damage from not being able to start campaigning. I just don't see the idea behind this one.. what the junta's goal is by doing this. Yes its an inconvenience registering members again but other than that what does the junta have to gain from this. Just want to know their ulterior motive I am not seeing it. 

7 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Really a fail proof plan stacked with unfair and complicated rules to reset membership. The plan carefully crafted  by the National Council for Peace and Order's (NCPO) refusal to allow parties to communicate messages and the ban on political activities. Nothing to do with being lazy when the plan aim to creat as much hoops and loops for the average Somchai to clear. 

That part i get Eric they are making things harder, but what problems do the parties get into if they have less members registered. What does the junta stand to gain.. what is the ulterior motive. I just don't see it besides irritating the hell out of the political parties. 

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

Just poking fun of my nationality. Normal Dutch don't like to be called Kaaskop. Cheese head.

 

What is the elephant in the room Baboon ? Why are member numbers so important ? I know the junta is putting the bar higher but in this case I don't see how it damages the parties. I can see the damage from not being able to start campaigning. I just don't see the idea behind this one.. what the junta's goal is by doing this. Yes its an inconvenience registering members again but other than that what does the junta have to gain from this. Just want to know their ulterior motive I am not seeing it. 

The elephant in the room is the fact that the whole setup is rigged. It's like discussing the colour of the new wallpaper when the house has subsidence, rising damp and a termite infestation... 

Just now, baboon said:

The elephant in the room is the fact that the whole setup is rigged. It's like discussing the colour of the new wallpaper when the house has subsidence, rising damp and a termite infestation... 

Baboon, i get that its rigged in favor of the junta. I just don't get what this part does for the junta what they hope to get from it. Other measures are quite clear like the junta campaigning while others cannot.. i get that i see what it gets them.. this i have no clue. 

I found this in the other paper

 

The new law on political parties requires party members to verify their memberships to secure their role in selecting the party's MP candidates in the primary vote. 

 

So would low member numbers give Prayut a better chance or what.. just trying to figure this out.

 

Edited May 1, 20188 yr by robblok

24 minutes ago, robblok said:

That part i get Eric they are making things harder, but what problems do the parties get into if they have less members registered. What does the junta stand to gain.. what is the ulterior motive. I just don't see it besides irritating the hell out of the political parties. 

As Baboon said that this whole setup is rigged for purpose of restricting membership renewal which is crucial for the primary voting to select candidates for the election. The Party Political Act has specific membership numbers and funds before party is eligible for primary voting. This probably just a small bit of the junta intention to have a non level playing field in the run up to the election and give Prayut an unfair advantage.

 

Just now, Eric Loh said:

As Baboon said that this whole setup is rigged for purpose of restricting membership renewal which is crucial for the primary voting to select candidates for the election. The Party Political Act has specific membership numbers and funds before party is eligible for primary voting. This probably just a small bit of the junta intention to have a non level playing field in the run up to the election and give Prayut an unfair advantage.

 

Ok thanks that makes it a bit clearer, i did not know what was behind it. I just wanted to see why this was done. 

4 minutes ago, robblok said:

Ok thanks that makes it a bit clearer, i did not know what was behind it. I just wanted to see why this was done. 

Perhaps there is also thinking that those who do not reregister can be persuaded to join the junta supporting parties...

4 hours ago, robblok said:

the only problem

There are several problems. The one critical problem is providing at least 120 provincial representatives in the primary voting required by law. If any party can't reach 8,500 registered members, it cannot hold a primary and put candidates in the field. That's suppression of political choices.

1 minute ago, Srikcir said:

There are several problems. The one critical problem is providing at least 120 provincial representatives in the primary voting required by law. If any party can't reach 8,500 registered members, it cannot hold a primary and put candidates in the field. That's suppression of political choices.

That means that only the PTP and Democrats got enough members, the others (as I read in the newspaper) havent gotten that high with their members numbers. 

42 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

There are several problems. The one critical problem is providing at least 120 provincial representatives in the primary voting required by law. If any party can't reach 8,500 registered members, it cannot hold a primary and put candidates in the field. That's suppression of political choices.

 

Yes it is. But maybe they're learning from some good'old Western democracies stuck with old well established parties where "the system" throttles the chance of new ones.

37 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

If any party can't reach 8,500 registered members, it cannot hold a primary and put candidates in the field.

 

If a political party cannot get 8,500 registered members in a country of approximately 50 million eligible voters then either their views and policies are not very popular or they lack political organisation.

If this becomes a common experience and if the govt continues to restrict political meetings, I think that it will become much more likely that a popular uprising or campaign of civil disobedience to unseat this iniquitous government will happen. Even Thais must eventually run out of patience with the blatant nonsense that is going on at present.

41 minutes ago, robblok said:

That means that only the PTP and Democrats got enough members, the others (as I read in the newspaper) havent gotten that high with their members numbers. 

 

Exactly. So they ain't gonna be selling their services to the highest bidder! 

 

There are always two sides to a coin. One side clearly wants rules and regulations that achieve a certain outcome. But the other side is that political parties might have to face up that people don't want to be members when free of coercion.

People might not want the same old politicians, with the same old attitudes, with a bit of window dressing. They might want the new fresh parties, with fresh policies and people. Interesting to see how these new parties get on and progress. Especially in areas that have been dominated by one of the smaller party barons in the past.

Just now, KiwiKiwi said:

If this becomes a common experience and if the govt continues to restrict political meetings, I think that it will become much more likely that a popular uprising or campaign of civil disobedience to unseat this iniquitous government will happen. Even Thais must eventually run out of patience with the blatant nonsense that is going on at present.

 

More chance of snowballs in hell.