Pheu Thai PM candidate Paetongtarn faces complaint over 'media shareholding'
Political parties and their key figures have been threatened by complaints filed with the Election Commission (EC) in the run-up to the May 14 general election.
These include those in both the governing coalition and the opposition camp.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Pheu Thai Party, faces a complaint accusing her of holding shares in a media-related business, which is prohibited by the Constitution for any government minister.
Political activist Srisuwan Janya on Tuesday filed his complaint with the EC, asking for an investigation to determine if property firm SC Asset, in which Paetongtarn is holding 1.21 billion shares, can be deemed a media-related business.
Srisuwan – who is dubbed “serial complainer” by the media – said that some of the company’s stated business purposes involve publishing documents, producing advertisements, producing and distributing movies, and getting involved in the entertainment business, which he claimed could be regarded as “media-related”.
Some observers said Paetongtarn might meet the same fate as Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the now-defunct leader of the Future Forward Party. The tycoon-turned-politician lost his MP status in November 2019 after the EC found that he held shares in a media company called V-Luck Media, which produced advertising publications. Although the company was no longer in business, the business closure was not formally registered.
However, unlike V-Luck Media, which was clearly media-related, SC Asset is a property company and its main focus is not media business.
In addition to Paetongtarn (who is not contesting for an MP seat in the upcoming election), there are about 130 election candidates being investigated by the EC for suspected shareholding in a media-related company, including Democrat candidate Charnchai Issarasenarak, who was recently disqualified by Nakhon Nayok’s electoral office for holding shares in telecom firm AIS, which invests in its media-related affiliates.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated Charnchai as an election candidate for Nakhon Nayok’s Constituency 2 on the grounds that his shareholding of 200 shares in AIS was just a small fraction of the company’s total 2.87 billion shares, so he was unlikely to have any influence over the company's decision-making.
The EC is also considering scores of complaints seeking the dissolution of political parties.
EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said recently that the election agency had rejected at least 61 such complaints.
Among the remaining complaints under the EC investigation, six are against Pheu Thai and three against the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, according to Sawang.
Pheu Thai is accused of allowing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to influence the party’s internal affairs, which is against the law.
Palang Pracharath is accused of bribing MPs from micro parties to vote against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in an alleged attempt to unseat him during a censure debate last year.
Meanwhile, election commissioner Pakorn Mahannop hinted earlier this week that the EC would “make a big decision very soon”, leading to speculation that it was referring to the dissolution of a major political party.
When asked by reporters if the imminent EC resolution would involve any political party, the commissioner simply smiled without answering the question.
