Thailand : General Election 1̶9̶ ̶A̶u̶g̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶2̶0̶1̶8̶

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Junta plans to hold local elections before general electionWisanu Kruangam
(Photo from Thairath)

prachatai.com

[Bonglek]

Junta to choose where elections are allowed but in any case......no criticism of Junta permitted.

I'm getting the strong vibe that democracy is never going to be the dish of the day with men with guns. What's the point having a gun if you can't even use it for coercion ?

[Norton]

What's the point having a gun if you can't even use it for coercion ?

The current band of brothers running the country have got it right.
Step 1 - Create a crisis by teaming with an anti-government group of protetsters.
Step 2 - Stop the crisis via a coup and take over all government functions with appointed "good people".
Step 3 - Write a constitution which ensures no matter what the outcome of an election, the good people remain in power.
Step 4 - Create a "roadmap" which is used to postpone elections indefinately
Step 5 - Set all the rules for the election if and when it happens. Rules such as what political parties can and cannot say, who can run for office and to make sure good people win, deploy military at all polling stations.

[Mid]

^

yep , they listened to the Burmese Generals closely

[serrollt]

Since they 'neutered' the Thaksin clan, the only thing missing is a new scapegoat to justify further delays.

How are things in the Deep South?

[Norton]

That's true but you have to be careful that the education you give is not indoctrination in disguise.

Suppose all education is to varying degree indoctrination and certainly political education is an area indoctrination is rampant worldwide. My discussions with kids focus on the rights of the individual. Specifically the right to peacefully voice their opinions via word and/or protest or their vote. In the case of our current political situation it is the job of the electorate not the military to remove an elected government. Under no circumstance should the military usurp the rights and obligation of the people to choose their government.

Pretty much sums up my "political" education.

"As painful as it sometimes is, elected civilian government is the principle of the modern world where people have voices, where negotiations of power and influence promise a degree of equality to everyone, and where accountability is as important as legitimacy. Any form of military government, open or covert, is nothing but a bastard child of ever-evolving democracy."

https://m.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1362539/backpedalling-in-a-parallel-thai-universe

[Mid]

it is the job of the electorate not the military to remove an elected government.

hear hear .

[Mid]

^

and with reference to the above , that is exactly what was happening until the Poo yai 's saw that the great unwashed was learning the value of their vote .

[Mid]

Thai politician eyes kingmaker role as election plotting starts
Panu Wongcha-um, Panarat Thepgumpanat
November 30, 2017

BANGKOK (Reuters)TIES TO BOTH SIDES

[Butterfly]

let's hope Puey Thai wins, just for good measure

[Mid]

Last 2 organic bills clear hurdle
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA
1 Dec 2017

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) accepted in principle yesterday the last two organic bills, one governing the election of MPs and the other the selection of senators.

Lawmakers voted to accept the draft for deliberation and scrutiny at their first reading yesterday. They also appointed two panels to vet the bills, the last of 10 that are constitutionally required before the general election can be held.

The two bills were presented to the NLA by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC)

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said public opinion and the views of the Election Commission were taken into consideration when they were drafted.

He defended the introduction of a requirement that MP candidates must be assigned numbers different from their party numbers, which critics fear could confuse voters. In past elections, candidates campaigned using their party numbers.

Mr Meechai said the new requirement will compel parties to pick MP candidates whose credentials impress voters and who are familiar faces with strong connections to people and localities.

Political experts said voters will go to the trouble of finding candidates' election numbers on the ballots only if the candidates have made a good enough impression on them.

Mr Meechai said the organic bill on the selection of MPs also gives the Election Commission the unprecedented power of being able to stop the vote as soon as they detect irregularities.

"We made a clear distinction between 'dishonest' and 'unfair' because the punishment is severe -- a lifetime ban from politics," he said.

NLA members debated the bills in principle, easing concern the bills might be voted down and the polls delayed.

On the matter of selecting senators, some members questioned how effective the bill would be in eliminating collusion.

The bills could still be amended by the NLA during the second hearing as the scrutiny process continues.

Mr Meechai, meanwhile, said the EC sent some of its representatives to join the CDC meetings during the drafting of the organic bill on MPs' election.

bangkokpost.com

[Norton]

Political experts said voters will go to the trouble of finding candidates' election numbers on the ballots only if the candidates have made a good enough impression on them.

These so called experts havn't a clue. The majority of voters will do no such thing.
This law just another nail in the democratic coffin of the less literate peasantry.

[Mid]

These so called experts havn't a clue. snip

sadly they do have a clue and know exactly what they are doing , Thailand and democracy is now and will be for the foreseeable future just a dream .

[serrollt]

These so called experts havn't a clue. The majority of voters will do no such thing.
This law just another nail in the democratic coffin of the less literate peasantry.

I am sure there will be friendly helpers around to advise voters which lucky number to tick.

[Mid]

Election faces delay to 2019
4 Dec 2017

Political activities ban cited as big problem


The world's last military regime has promised an election within a year, but failure to meet its own deadlines could mean another postponement to 2019.

The regime's possible delay of lifting the political ban could cause a general election to be postponed to 2019, critics say.

Political pundit Suriyasai Katasila urged the military regime Sunday to clarify its stance towards lifting the ban, saying any further delay will likely result in the general election having to be pushed back.

According to him, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has to give a "clearer signal" over what it will do as the deadline for political parties to complete mandatory processes, including notifications of changes of party members to the registrar, is set for Jan 5 next year.

The organic law on political parities requires all political parties to complete such activities within 90 days after the law coming into effect on Oct 8.

Also, the organic law requires that each party must find 500 members within 180 days of the law taking effect, find an initial fund of 1 million baht, call a meeting to alter their regulations, prepare their ideology, elect party executives, establish party branches and appoint branch representatives and pay the party fees, he said.

That means all of these activities will have to be done no later than April 4 next year, said Mr Suriyasai, who is deputy dean of Rangsit University's Social Innovation College and former coordinator for the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy.

Even though these deadlines are flexible, as the organic law states that they can be extended under certain circumstances, the problem is that it is not known for how long the deadlines can actually be extended, he said.

More importantly, if these deadlines are extended, it may affect another deadline imposed for the political parties to find sufficient candidates to be fielded in the election, Mr Suriyasai said.

"Worse still, the election may end up being delayed," he said.

Under these circumstances, the election that is expected to come in December next year may consequently be postponed to early 2019 if the lifting of the ban is delayed until Jan 5, he said.

In the worst case scenario, political parties may lose their legal status and no longer exist if they are unable to meet the stipulated requirements within a given deadline, whether it is extended or not, Mr Suriyasai said.

Although the organic law on political parties has been effective since early October, the NCPO's edict banning political gatherings of five people or more and banning all political activities is still in force.

After the discovery of a weapons cache in a rice field in Chachoengsao over the past week, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon on Friday said he had received intelligence reports that some groups of people had begun to form political movements, and therefore the lifting of the ban is not likely in the near future but would be reconsidered at a time nearer the general election.

Head of the Democrat Party's legal team Wirat Kalayasiri said the government and NCPO should not use the discovery of this weapons cache as "an excuse to postpone an election".

He said the NCPO is powerful and has been in control of the country for more than three years, and should have enough capability to control the situation and investigate the case without the need to postpone an election.

Pheu Thai Party secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said it is totally unreasonable for the government to link the arms discovery to possible unrest in Bangkok, and adds weight to the belief that the NCPO is bent on postponing a national poll.

Chartthaipattana Party's director Nikorn Chamnong said the only way to cope with the deadline of updating the party's member database is to ask for an extension, otherwise the parties might have to be dissolved for failure to comply with the organic law.

Another question is when the organic bill on the election of MPs and the selection of senators will be passed and come into effect, he said. The charter requires an election to be held within 150 days of these laws being passed. In this case, political parties might not be able to keep up with the huge workload imposed by such a tight turnaround

"This will surely be a problem, a big and complicated problem that some people might have failed to see. Let's look carefully into these problems," he said, adding that he believed the Constitution Drafting chairman Meechai Ruchupan had already expressed concerns over the deadlines imposed by the charter.

bangkokpost.com