CDC sets death term for political graft
The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has toughened the political parties law, imposing the death penalty on party members who illegally accept money from outsiders.
And the affiliated party of an offending member must pay a fine of up to twice the amount the member received while
the leader of the party and its board members face revocation of their electoral rights, CDC spokesman Udom Rathamarit said.
The new stipulation is an additional clause to the recently introduced rule requiring parties to declare MPs’ salaries to
boost transparency among political parties.Udom also said drafters had revised provisional clauses of the law so parties could better adapt to the new changes.
In the new revision, political parties have to report to the Election Commission changes in their membership numbers within 30 days. Previously, it was required that parties report only the number of current members, the spokesman said.
With regard to verification of active members, the CDC extended the period members had to pay their first membership fee of at least Bt50 from 150 to 180 days, he said.The permanent clause still stipulates that they must pay a Bt100 membership fee in the following years.
Parties with less than 500 members, should make up the shortfall and have everyone pay the fee, he said. If they don’t, they would be ineligible to field candidates in a poll, he said.