At least two legal moves that target the prime ministerial candidature of Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha for Palang Pracharath are in the works.
The Nation reports that a “[p]ro-red shirt lawyer Winyat Chatmontree has … petitioned the E[lection] C[ommission] to consider disbanding the Phalang Pracharat Party, whose founding, he alleged, had outside influence.” That “outside influence” is identified as The Dictator. Winyat argues that the party is essentially a creation of the military junta and Gen Prayuth.
Winyat argued that the EC should “disqualify Prayut as a candidate for the post-election premiership because he is the incumbent premier and head of the National Council for Peace and Order and thus a state agent, and as such is legally prohibited from seeking any ministerial post.” He’s referring to section 98 of the junta’s constitution.
Winyat poked the EC, saying that it should make its decision speedily, as it did in the Thai Raksa Chart case, and thus avoid being seen to apply double standards. Doing otherwise, Winyat said, could see the EC “accused of being negligent in their duty.”
Meanwhile, as reported by the Bangkok Post, former policeman and leader of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, Pol Gen Seripisut Temiyavet:
… will ask the Election Commission to disband the pro-regime Palang Pracharath Party for nominating the man who seized power in a military coup as its prime ministerial candidate.
Pol Gen Seripisut said:
I’d like to ask Khun Prayut: You seized power from someone else. Although you’ve been granted a royal pardon, is your action deemed hostile to the constitutional monarchy?
He also urged the EC to be evenhanded in making an expeditious ruling.
As a puppet agency, it would seem unlikely that the EC will act against The Dictator. After all, the “investigation” of Palang Pracharath’s banqueting case has conveniently been “forgotten.”
Update: Thai PBS reports that Winyat’s petition was made for the Puea Thai Party.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 