EC ‘can’t give political parties extra time to organise’
The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday made it clear that the agency had no authority to give extra time to political parties to make arrangements to fit with the new regulations. This follows a refusal by the junta to loosen its grip and allow political activities.
However, EC commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said that political parties could petition the registrar for additional time in case they could not meet the schedule in the road map.
The clock is ticking now since the organic law governing political parties came into effect early last month. Political parties are required by the new regulations, for instance, to update their registration records in 90 days and collect annual membership fees within 180 days. Despite that, the junta has maintained the ban on political activities.
If parties fail to meet the deadlines prescribed by law, they could lose the opportunity to contest the next election.
Somchai said that political parties must seek a petition for extra time with the registrar, one by one. It would then be up to the authority whether or not the petition would be allowed and for how long, he said.
In case the registrar turned down the request, the parties could submit the matter instead to the EC convention to decide, Somchai explained.
The commissioner stressed that all this must be initiated by the parties. The EC had no power whatsoever to order extra time for political parties to make arrangement in preparation for the election, he added.
Asked about the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s current stance to maintain the political ban, the commissioner said that he would not intrude on that.
“It was not the EC’s job to be assess the time,” Somchai said. “However, I believe that there will be some solution and it must not be illegal.”
The commissioner went on to say that the EC had prepared a total of eight regulations as well as announcements concerning political parties ready for when the NCPO allowed political parties to be active again.
The EC was ready to help facilitate the parties once the ban was lifted, he said.
Somchai was also asked about the fact that nobody had yet applied to fill the vacancies at the EC.
Somchai, who is now one of seven acting commissioners, said that he believed eventually some people would apply, but everyone would have to wait and see how competent they would be.