Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday cancelled plans to hand out government assistance to villagers on his current tour of the Northeast, just one day after insisting that the handouts were not a violation of the election law.

"We have to be careful," a source in the Thai Rak Thai Party said yesterday. Since the election day is only two months away, the party is concerned that some of its actions could violate the election law, the source said.

PM's Secretary-General Prommin Lertsuridej yesterday denied that Thaksin had planned to give anything to villagers during his tour of the Northeast, saying he had merely wanted to review the progress of the government's policies in the region.

"Farmers are bringing cattle to show the progress of projects to the premier. He just wants to see which policies have worked out," Prommin said.

"We [politicians] will not give away anything, but let government officials do it," he said.

However, his claim is contrary to a schedule issued by the Government Spokesman's Office last week, which said that Thaksin would meet villagers and hand out seven items to them, including cattle, seeds and land title deeds. (See details on A4).

Instead of giving out cattle, the plan was yesterday modified to allow villagers to bring their cattle for Thaksin to see. As for the Sor Por Kor 401 documents that the Office of Land Reform for Agriculture had prepared for Thaksin to hand out to 400 farmers, "We will give them to villagers later when things change", the office's secretary-general, Anant Poositthikul, said yesterday.

Thaksin travelled to Khon Kaen yesterday on a three-day tour of the Northeast that also includes Maha Sarakham and Roi Et provinces. He plans to tour the North next week.

There has been a lot of criticism about the appropriateness of the caretaker government giving handouts to voters as this would give it an advantage over the opposition parties.

It has been suggested that one reason Thaksin cancelled the plan might be that he is unsure how strictly the new Election Commission (EC) will enforce the election law. The former EC refused to scrutinise Thaksin and his party despite allegations of vote-buying across the country in the previous election.

Although the Royal Decree for the October 15 election will only take effect on August 24, certain actions committed before then could still be held to be violations of the election law.

The first ever EC, chaired by Theerasak Karnasut, ruled that if there was a violation of the election law before the election decree took effect, the commission could order a by-election if the result in that constituency favoured the guilty candidate, as well as give the offender a yellow card.

EC secretary-general Ekachai Warunprapa said yesterday that Thaksin could give handouts as long as the election decree had not taken effect.

However, he said, Articles 144 and 145 of the election law empowered the election commissioners to determine whether certain acts committed by politicians before the election decree took effect were violations of the election law.

"But now we cannot do anything except collect information on the political parties. We have to wait for the new EC to give us the policy," he said, adding that the previous EC chaired by Vasana Puemlarp had decided to consider only violations that occurred after the election decree took effect.

In case the violation occurs after the election decree has taken effect, the candidate will be given a "red card", or disqualified.

Preecha Suwannathat, a former dean of Thammasat University's Faculty of Law, said it was clear that the provincial tours were for political advantage. It was similar to the government's reshuffling of important officials even though it is only a caretaker, he said.

Preecha said that making government handouts or approving projects might put Thaksin in violation of Section 181 of the Constitution, which says that government spending must be done only with the approval of Parliament. Thaksin cannot approve any project by himself, he said.

"I hope the new Election Commission is decisive, not like the previous EC, which didn't dare take up any charges against Thaksin," Preecha said.

Former Charter drafter Kanin Boonsuwan said Thaksin's provincial visits might violate the law because local officials had to organise receptions for him using government funds. Moreover, politicians might offer to recompense locals for the costs of coming to see them, which could be construed as vote-buying.

Even though the election decree only takes effect on August 24, it has already received royal endorsement. That means the run-up to the election has begun. Further complicating matters, the election decree endorsed for the April 2 election should be considered still in effect, he said.

"I hope the new Election Commission will take action for a free and fair election. In this case, I think Thaksin has violated both the law and political etiquette," he said.

Pirapong Pairin, director of the EC's Public Relations Office, said he assigned staff to gather information about Thaksin's tour, adding that it was the new EC's duty to consider whether it violated the law.

Worranaree Kosajan,

Somroutai Sapsomboon,

Atthayuth Butrsripoom

The Nation

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Deputy minister Phumtham, disgruntled TRT figures said to be preparing to quit

A number of key figures in the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party, including party strategist Phumtham Wechaya-chai, are considering leaving, a party source said yesterday.

Phumtham, a deputy transport minister who played a key role in mapping out the party's implementation plans and preparing the party lists, saw leaving the party as an option after it appeared he had been sidelined from those important tasks, said the source.

Phumtham, a non-government organisation (NGO) worker and activist before entering politics, told journalists he felt uncomfortable with certain colleagues who were close to the party leader Thaksin Shinawatra. He said this had made him think about "ending his political role". He said he would leave politics for good after quitting the ruling party.

Phumtham was previously responsible for mapping out party strategies and building up good ties with NGOs and grassroots groups, as well as gathering candidates for party-list elections. The tasks have now been taken over by his colleagues who have become trusted men of the party leader, such as Yongyuth Tiyapairat, Newin Chidchob and Prommin Lertsuridej.

It remained unclear whether PM's Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva, who was also rumoured to be leaving the party, would be included in any of the three party lists, the party source said.

The Thai Rak Thai working group responsible for preparing the lists, which is headed by deputy party leader Pongpol Adireksarn, met at the party headquarters yesterday. Pongpol said three lists of prospective Cabinet members, political workers, and the official party list for contesting the poll would be prepared.