Political parties draft law sets stringent conditions

THE CONSTITUTION Drafting Commission (CDC) yesterday introduced the draft of a new organic law on political parties, saying it was sparing existing parties but setting more stringent conditions for the founding of new parties. 
Existing parties will not be dissolved as speculated by some political figures, but they will have to follow new rules, such as charging membership fees and finding members that meet the requirements set in the law, CDC spokesperson Udom Rathamarit said.
The organic law was made available to the public for the first time yesterday and is the first of 10 organic laws the CDC has to write. 
The initial version of the law has 10 chapters and 129 articles, though Udom insists this is not the final version as the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) also has to deliberate on it. 
At yesterday’s press briefing, he said the CDC wanted political parties – which are at the forefront of the political tide – to be the starting point of good politics. 
For instance, he said, all MP candidates should be registered with a political party. The organic law lays out rules to ensure that representatives in the Lower House act in the interest of the people, Udom said. 
The new rules require a new political party to have at least 500 founding members, he said, adding that running a political party that will ultimately be responsible for protecting public interest should be a serious matter. 
The CDC thinks the duty should lie in the hands of a larger number of people, rather than just 10 or 20 individuals, Udom said. 
The party should also have sufficient funds for operation, so the CDC has stipulated that each member should contribute between Bt2,000 and Bt500,000 to run the affairs of the party, he said. However, a party can have at least Bt1 million in seed money, he said. 
Each party is required to have at least 5,000 members in the first year and 20,000 within four years, Udom said. 
The drafter said the provisions on funding and the larger number of members were necessary for the party’s survival, which was why the organic law stipulates that if a party cannot fulfil these requirements, it would lose its status, he said. 
Parties are also required to set up branches or representatives outside the capital. This mechanism is to ensure that power is equally distributed and that all party members are participating, Udom said. 
Each party should also have a branch in each region and each of these branches must have at least 500 members who are local to the region. Parties can also have a provincial branch, but in order to stay in operation, it must have at least 100 members, he said. 
The drafter also said that party members outside Bangkok should play a part in selecting electoral candidates. 
The law specifies that MP candidates have to be selected by a selection committee and that half of the committee members should hail from regional or provincial branches, he said. 
Udom said that in the past, political parties had the freedom to decide on their activities, but this had not yielded good results, which is why the new law specifies certain “compulsory activities” for party members. 
These activities include encouraging public participation in state scrutiny, as well as maintaining a balance between freedom and correct understanding of democracy and constitutional monarchy, the spokesman explained. 
Next week, the CDC will introduce the law to stakeholders, Udom said, adding that all comments on the draft would be welcome and attached to the draft before it is handed to the NLA for consideration.