Thailand's politicians will have about 2 months to campaign. Will they be ready?

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

Pirom Polwiset and other members of the so-called, pro-junta Three Friends Group were criticized this week after they were spotted campaigning in Chaiyaphum province while other politicians face prosecution for violating the junta's ban on politicking.

 

BANGKOK — Politicians gave mixed reactions Thursday to the idea that they will get about two months to campaign for next year’s promised elections once the ban on politicking is lifted mid-December.

 

A day after a top official said campaigning is likely be allowed starting mid-December, pols from the Pheu Thai and Future Forward parties said that time is inadequate so long as the ban prevents them from making preparations, making for an election that will be neither fair nor free. A senior Democrat Party member said the given time will be enough, depending on how each party prepares.

 

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2018/09/06/thailands-politicians-will-have-about-2-months-to-campaign-will-they-be-ready/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-9-6

48 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

A senior Democrat Party member said the given time will be enough, depending on how each party prepares.

I'm sure it will, the government have shown so far that they have used the last two months well to campaign.

Not certain if the campaigning is allowed to harangue journalists for asking stupid questions though. A punch in the face often offends.

 

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

Pirom Polwiset and other members of the so-called, pro-junta Three Friends Group

But did they thank everybody three times?

 

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

pols from the Pheu Thai and Future Forward parties said that time is inadequate so long as the ban prevents them from making preparations, making for an election that will be neither fair nor free

Go for coalition, forget free and fair at this stage, fight fire with fire.

 

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

A senior Democrat Party member said the given time will be enough

Wonder who's pocket the dems are in? (again)

Edited September 6, 20187 yr by coulson
Typo

Why is the campaign time an issue?

The result is assured.

Parties nervous about election timeframe, ban on policy talks

By KAS CHANWANPEN 
THE NATION

 

file photo

 

The upcoming 60-day campaign for the first election in five years could pose different challenges for different people including pro-junta parties, politicians said yesterday after the government revealed the electoral timeframe earlier this week.

 

The clock will start ticking in December when all electoral organic laws take effect, and parties are likely to have around 60 days for canvassing if the national election does take place on February 24.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam believes parties will have enough time to campaign for votes.

 

Politicians, however, remain anxious, given that the ban on political activities has not been fully lifted with less than six months left before the poll.

 

Older parties such as Pheu Thai would have the upper hand in terms of trust and familiarity, former Pheu Thai MP Worachai Hema said, adding that new parties with new faces would need more time to campaign and prove themselves to voters.

 

“So, I see the junta getting caught in its own trap. They, too, will need some time to gain voters’ trust,” he said. “For Pheu Thai, we don’t worry too much, because the voters know us and know what we can do to solve problems and help them.”

 

Newly formed Future Forward Party, meanwhile, said the limited time for policy discussions would also impact voters, not just the parties.

 

Apparently in response to Wissanu’s remark, Future Forward spokesperson Chorika Wanich said 60 days may have been enough time under “old politics”, in which politicians had voters memorise the party and electoral number before entering the polling booth.

 

But if voters were to also participate in electoral politics, including reflecting on different parties’ policies and understanding them, they would definitely need more than 60 days, Chorika said.

 

Veteran politician Nikorn Chamnong, a key member of Chartthaipattana Party, said the 60-day period could pose some serious challenges, especially since parties were required to submit their policy plans to the Election Commission for approval before they could start campaigning.

 

He said he was especially worried about how the EC would approve the policy plans and how long it would take, considering all the tasks the newly selected EC has in hand. He also wondered whether the election commissioners had the required expertise to screen the policies.

 

“Metaphorically speaking, all new rules are like a road. The new commissioners are like the traffic police. The ride isn’t going to be easy when we are not familiar with all these,” he said.

 

However, EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma told The Nation yesterday the agency was confident it could perform its duty in line with the timeframe and would not leave the parties in the dark.

 

“We will have a clear guideline regarding the policy screening. Parties should not have trouble following it. And it shouldn’t be any problem,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30353906

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-07

"...Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam believes parties will have enough time to campaign for votes..."

 

Hmm... How many election campaigns has the 'deputy PM' run? When did he become an expert? And, what is the benefit of NOT allowing parties to discuss policy with the voters? This is arrogant BS, nothing more; this is the Junta saying "I have power over you".

 

"...Chorika said a number of political parties, including Future Forward, have called for the military junta to immediately lift the four-year-old ban.

“Moving toward free and fair elections requires that political parties have the opportunity to declare their stances and ideologies as widely as possible, so people have full information to make informed election decisions. The longer the ban persists, the less free and fair elections will become. This is not only adverse to political parties but will affect the legitimacy of the election results,” Chorika said.

 

"...affect the legitimacy..."

 

This is the key message that parties should be screaming about right now; if there isn't sufficient time for a relatively free and fair process, the election will be illegitimate. This was always going to be an equation as there was no way that the Junta election would ever be completely 'Free and Fair'. The equation was/is whether the election would be 'Free and Fair' enough to take part or would it be better to boycott and condemn the Junta for rigging the process. I have always felt that that particular question is best left to the parties, but with the warning that the WORST possible outcome would be the Junta gaining legitimacy through a flawed process; better a boycott and no election than that.

 

What's it going to be parties? There comes a time whereby participation in the process becomes acceptance of the process, but we are not quite there yet. Parties have to decide soon whether or not they will accept the Junta's authority to ban everything until the last minute and whether or not they take part; you can't take part then claim later that it wasn't fair.

 

Whatcha gonna do, parties? Stand and fight? Or whimper and crawl?

 

 

8 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Whatcha gonna do, parties? Stand and fight? Or whimper and crawl?

The word 'hamstrung' springs to mind. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Metaphorically speaking, all new rules are like a road. The new commissioners are like the traffic police.

So just drop them 400 Baht and off you go!

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand's politicians will have about 2 months to campaign. Will they be ready?

Ready? How long does it take to go to the bank to get a sack full of 500 baht notes? Plenty of time!

party woooooh!

 

oh, wait...,.

And cue Monty Python's Race for people with no sense of direction