People Power on road to oblivion

Panel agrees on move to disband PPP but party ‘not worried’

The ruling People Power Party came a step closer to extinction yesterday when an Election Commission panel decided that the agency should seek a Constitution Court ruling for the party to be dissolved.

Executives of the PPP, however, said they were not discouraged by the prospect of the party being dissolved, as a ‘Plan B’ was already in place for a worst-case scenario.

The EC subcommittee agreed the PPP deserved to be disbanded, as its deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat was found by the Supreme Court to be involved with electoral fraud, a source said. The entire political party should be held responsible for Yongyuth’s offence, as he was a party executive and his actions benefited the party.

EC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiygarn said the subcommittee’s report and conclusions, along with relevant documents, would be submitted to the agency’s chairman, Apichart Sukhagganond.

Apichart, in his capacity as the political party registrar, will seek a decision from the five election commissioners, Suthiphon said.

The subcommittee’s secretary, Thanit Sriprathet, said the panel would submit its report to the chairman no later than today.

Election commissioner Prapun Naigowit said he expected the EC to discuss the subcommittee’s report next week.

He said the EC would initially determine whether the panel had provided sufficient proof to support its conclusions.

“We will make our decision based on evidence and the relevant laws. We will stick to the truths and won’t be swayed by all the pressure. Our decision may please some and may upset others, but that’s beyond our authority,” Prapun said.

In a related development, PPP executives yesterday said preparations had been made to cope with the possibility of the ruling party being dissolved.

Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat, in his capacity as a PPP deputy leader, said the party’s registrar had registered two “substitute parties” in case of a worst-case scenario.

He expected some MPs from the PPP to join other parties, but added that he believed most of them would join a new party to replace a disbanded PPP.

Sompong said he saw no serious problem about the ongoing disputes between factions within the main governing party.

Another deputy leader, Kan Thienkaew, said the number of party executives would be reduced to between seven and 15 in a new party to be set up by MPs from the PPP.

“Nobody wants to take a risk,” he said, referring to the fact that executives of a disbanded political party are stripped of their electoral rights for five years.

He added that the new party’s executive board would consist of failed PPP election candidates. He also suggested that the party’s prime ministerial candidate might even come from outside of the executive board, citing the fact that the Constitution does not require the premier to be part of a party executive board.

Meanwhile, PPP legal expert Wattana Sengpairoh said MPs would move to a new party called Puea Thai (For Thailand) if the PPP were to be dissolved.

He said he believed most of the PPP’s current MPs would stay together in a new party, even though some might move to other parties.

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