By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE ELECTION COMMISSION was today (Dec.27) petitioned to consider taking steps to have the Pheu Thai Party dissolved by court for allegedly breaking the law, given Paetongtarn “Oong Ing” Shinawatra’s recent visit to Hong Kong where she met her fugitive father/former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Political activist Sonthiya Sawasdee filed the fresh petition for the polling agency to take legal action which might possibly lead to a major lawsuit to have the Pheu Thai finally dissolved by court due to the event in which Paetongtarn, who has been earlier named head of the largest opposition party’s innovation and public participation programmes as well as head of the Pheu Thai Family and publicly propagated the party’s campaign policies, had visited the island state to see her father who has been taking self-exile overseas after he had been earlier sentenced by court to 10 years in jail on misconduct charges perpetrated during his premiership nearly two decades ago.
Sonthiya said he had by no means considered Paetongtarn only as a daughter of the fugitive former premier but as an executive member of the Pheu Thai which is largely speculated to name her among a trio of partisan candidates for prime minister in the next general election.
He said such activity conducted by Paetongtarn as a prominent political figure in relation to Thaksin as a globe-trotting fugitive has allegedly breached the Political Party Act which is an organic law of the constitution.
If found guilty by court, the Pheu Thai which has already aimed at scoring a landslide victory in the nationwide election could possibly be dissolved with all members of their executive board being banned from all levels of political activity for a number of years.
The Pheu Thai is practically viewed as a reincarnation of the dissolved People’s Power Party and Thai Rak Thai Party which had been founded by Thaksin who is still more or less regarded as de facto Pheu Thai boss, regularly giving out initiatives and guidance from Dubai to the party’s rank and file.
Pheu Thai leader Chonlanan Srikaew earlier denied that Paetongtarn had met her father in Hong Kong to discuss alleged conflict of interest between the “old” and “new” generations among the party’s rank and file over the nationwide contests for MPs, particularly involving those to run in constituency-based mode.
Chonlanan contended that the quiet visit of the speculated woman contender for head of a post-election government to the former premier be considered an unquestionably normal activity between daughter and father.
Both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra have been taking self-exile overseas following the 2006 and 2014 coups which separately deposed them as head of an elected government respectively with the latest one orchestrated by the then-army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha who had named himself head of a post-coup, military-installed government and then had been named head of a Palang Pracharath-led coalition government after the 2019 general election.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Mr. Sonthiya Sawasdee, right, and Paetongtarn “Oong Ing” Shinawatra with other Pheu Thai Party members, left.
Front Page: Paetongtarn “Oong Ing” Shinawatra with fugitive father/former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Both photos: Thai Rath
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