Thailand: Political parties worry over membership registration delay
Political parties in Thailand on April 17 expressed concerns over the membership verification process for their members, which could not be completed by the end of this month, as required, due to too many public holidays.
Bangkok (VNA) – Political parties in Thailand on April 17expressed concerns over the membership verification process for their members,which could not be completed by the end of this month, as required, due to toomany public holidays.
The existing partiesare racing against time to adhere to Order No 53/2017 of the National Councilfor Peace and Order (NCPO), which requires party memberships to be renewed,including the submission of documents and the payment of membership fees, byApril 30.
After the Songkran newyear holidays, there will be less than 10 working days left in April.
Anyone failing toregister in time will lose their memberships and will have to re-register asnew members. However, as a result of the NCPO ban on political movements whichhas yet to be lifted, parties have been unable to carry out any politicalactivities, including the acquisition of new members.
According to acting secretary-general ofthe Election Commission (EC) Jarungwit Phumma, by April 13, fifteen groups hadgot approval to register as new political parties nearly six weeks after theregistration was opened. Nine parties had received permission from the NCPO tohold an assembly.
The EC has been open for politicalgroups to request registration as a political party since March 2. As of April3, 98 parties registered but only 15 been approved to form a party due tostrict scrutiny of the application, including the minimum number of members.
Thailand sets to lift the ban on politicalactivities in June when all new political parties are established. The ban hasbeen imposed in the country since the coup d’état in May 2014.
Major political parties in Thailand began the process of reconfirmingtheir memberships and resumed official contact with their members on April 1.-VNA
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Illustrative image (Source: nationmultimedia.com) 
