Members of the National Legislative Assembly plan to prevent any dissolved political party from registering again under its old name for at least five years by adding a clause to a pending amendment to an order issued by the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) after its coup last year.

NLA member General Panthep Puwanartnurak said yesterday the assembly had two options: for at least 25 members to propose an amendment to Announcement No 27 of the CDR, or to add the clause to a government-sponsored amendment.

"The NLA members agreed in informal discussions that to allow a disbanded party to register again under the same name is tantamount to a waste of time for the court that ruled to dissolve that party.

"There would be no impact [from the ruling] on those in the disbanded party, even though they committed wrongdoing," he said.

"So we agreed to add a message to make it clear that the disbanded party must be prevented from using the old name for at least five years," he added.

Announcement No 27 is an expansion on the CDR's Announcement No 15, which banned political party-related activities and the registration of new political parties. It imposes an additional penalty on executives of parties that have been disbanded under the Political Parties Act by barring them from contesting or voting in elections for five years.  

The Cabinet on Tuesday lifted the ban on party activities, but decided to propose a new law to the NLA to amend Announcement No 27.

The previous governing party, Thai Rak Thai, was disbanded by a verdict of the Constitution Tribunal last week.

In a related development, junta chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has instructed the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) to start preparations for the general election, including a push for a successful referendum on the new constitution.

"Sonthi has hopes the elections will restore political normalcy, boost investor confidence and revitalise the economy," Isoc spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng said yesterday.

Sonthi is concurrently the director of Isoc.

Under Sonthi's instruction, the Isoc will assist in explaining the charter draft to the people so that they can form a judgement before casting votes in the referendum in September, Thanathip said.

Security and intelligence officials are expected to closely monitor anti-coup protests that could emerge to defeat the charter draft, he said.

He played down concerns protest organisers might mobilise villagers to descend on the capital, saying authorities had not detected unusual movements in the rural areas.

Authorities have estimated the anti-coup protest planned for Sanam Luang later this month would attract up to 5,000 protesters, he said.

Sonthi said he was still uncertain whether the crowds at the upcoming rally would surge in significant numbers after a group of 60 banned Thai Rak Thai executives teamed up with PTV organisers.

He voiced optimism the elections would stay on track as scheduled.