Solo political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana urged the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday to dissolve the eight coalition parties, led by Move Forward, claiming that the MoU, which binds them together to form a government, is tantamount to domination of the parties and deprives them of their independence.
The Palang Pracharath party member said that he wants the EC to investigate whether the insistence on the MoU by the Move Forward party is a violation of the Political Parties Act, because the document binds the eight parties together, depriving them of their independence.
He claimed that he had closely monitored the MoU drafting process and discovered that the contents of document were the result of negotiations, adding that he had to lodge a complaint against all eight parties, instead of just the core Move Forward party.
He also submitted additional evidence pertaining Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s shareholding in the ITV today, a public broadcasting company, which includes the list of all shareholder names for the past 18 years, as well as the annual balance sheets of the company, to prove that it is a public company and it is still operational.
Ruangkrai is accusing Pita of owning 42,000 shares in ITV, which is prohibited for an electoral candidate who may be disqualified if they are found to actually own a stake in a media company.
Ruangkrai also told the media that he is not afraid that he may be attacked for his action, like another political activist, Srisuwan Janya, who was recently assaulted at the EC’s Office by an elderly man, who claimed that he was disturbed by Srisuwan’s indiscriminate complaints against politicians and their parties.
He claimed that he acted alone and that he used his own financial means to obtain some of the evidence.
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai party leader Cholnan Srikaew said that he is not worried about Ruangkrai’s complaint to the EC. He defended the MoU, saying that it was jointly drafted by all eight coalition parties of their own free will, without any control or domination by anybody or any party.
He warned Ruangkrai that his action could be seen as a violation of Section 101 of the Political Parties Act, which covers the making of false allegations against other parties.
