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Published on November 17, 2007

The Election Com-mission (EC) ruled yesterday that banned party executives could not make campaign speeches or have their pictures depicted on campaign posters.

The decision came as the People Power Party (PPP), which was formed by former members of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT), was holding an election rally at Sanam Luang.

Former TRT leader Thaksin Shinawatra did not appear via video conference at the rally, which introduced PPP's candidates before thousands of people.

Party secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee and spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang said the reports of Thaksin appearing via video conference at the rally were just rumours. The banned former TRT executives would not take to the stage or officially join election campaigns unless they were sure they were allowed to.

However, they said, the former executives might help promote the party's candidates as they were still Thai citizens and had the right to speak.

The 111 former TRT executives' voting rights were revoked after the Constitution Tribunal's resolution to dissolve the party in May.

The EC legal opinions are binding unless any disputed parties can have them overturned by judicial review.

"The EC has ruled about campaigning guidelines - this is its interpretation of the election law and not a verdict under the judicial jurisdiction," EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said.

The EC was obliged to hand down the guidelines within 30 days after parties concerned sought its legal opinions relating to the campaign activities, he said.

The guidelines were prompted by petitions from two parties, the PPP and Matchima Thipataya, he said.

The parties and candidates could choose either to comply with the EC's opinions or seek a judicial overturn, he said.

In the PPP petition, the EC was asked to rule whether banned party executives could participate in rallies and make speeches to sway votes in an advisory capacity.

The five EC members were of the opinion that the punishment of the banned executives was about removing them from executive duties or positions in a given party. This is clearly stated in Article 97 of the Political Parties Act, an organic law.

Based on the intent of the law, the EC ruling stated the banned executives must not be allowed to carry out any executive duties regardless of their new positions or roles within a given party.

Duties relating to the campaigning were strictly the job of party executives, hence the banned executives were not entitled to get involved under any pretext, be it as a strategic adviser or a campaign presenter or other job titles, the ruling said.

Duties reserved for party executives as prescribed under Articles 17, 18 and 44 of the Political Parties Act were off limits to the banned executives, it said.

For the Matchima petition, the EC ruled that banned executives could not be depicted on campaign posters of election candidates

The main argument for this prohibition was based on the duty of party executives to be responsible for swaying votes as sanctioned by the law, hence the banned executives could not act as "impostors" to do the job.

At yesterday's rally of the PPP, the audience arrived in small groups and by buses. Around the rally venue, at Sanam Luang, vendors sold souvenirs such as T-shirts with pro-Thaksin and anti-coup messages.

People Power leader Samak Sundaravej, secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee, deputy secretary-general Noppadon Pattama and Chalerm Yoobamrung joined the rally.

Leaders of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship Natthawut Saikua and Jatuporn Promphan, who are now the party's party-list candidates, also took the stage at the rally.

Samak praised new constituency candidate Suparat Nakbunnam, a former news presenter, for her "strong and impressive" speech.

He said he felt relieved that he now had someone to replace him to deliver speeches.

Suparat talked about her opposition to the military coup and the virtue of the Bt30 universal healthcare scheme.

Compared to his outburst with the media last week, Samak seemed to be much less aggressive.

Other speakers did not deliberate on policies but mostly kept talking about how good Thaksin was and the link between him and the party.

Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban said earlier he did not believe the Thaksin video conference would be allowed. Otherwise, the TRT dissolution would mean nothing if the banned executives could still take part in selecting candidates, managing parties' finances and helping candidates during campaigns.

Meanwhile, Matchima Thipataya Party leader Prachai Leophairatana said the rally at Sanam Luang was not likely to boost PPP's popularity much as people knew it represented Thaksin. The EC should be responsible for prohibiting Thaksin's appearance via video conferences and the media, he added.

Chart Thai Party deputy leader Chuwit Kamolvisit was spotted among the crowd.

Atthayut Butrsripoom,

Sucheera Pinijparakarn

The Nation