To meet the looming deadline for political parties to register members, the Democrat Party yesterday unveiled a mobile phone application to help people register and join.
Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva introduced the "D-Connect" application which simply requires a person's 13-digit national identification number and basic information. The membership confirmation is then signed via an electronic signature.
"Prior to the reset, the party had over 2.5 million members, almost twenty times more than its nearest rival. With time constraints set by the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO] to complete new registrations between April 1 to April 30, we are facing a tough task," said Mr Abhisit.
"The D-Connect app is designed to facilitate registrations, but we are still waiting word from the Election Commission (EC) on whether the app will comply with the way the EC conducts their documentation processes". he added.
Mr Abhisit said he was worried that the EC might demand paper copies of both national IDs and household registrations, something that would contradict the government's Thailand 4.0 aspirations.
Despite political parties being given a 30-day time frame for member registration, Mr Abhisit said the Democrats only actually have 17 working days to conduct the process. "If the NCPO and the EC are truly working for the benefit of the people, they should be facilitating all necessary channels to encourage political participation" Mr Abhisit said.
If the EC disallows the D-Connect app, the party already has 263 stations nationwide for registration, in which people will be required to bring in both their national ID and a copy of their household registration. The party is able to increase the number of stations to 350 if necessary.
The application will also allow those who register as a member to pay their membership fee, if the commercial banks approve this function.
Because of the ban on political parties convening official meetings, the party cannot yet make arrangements for online payments with the banks.
"The NCPO and the EC should not place unnecessary burdens on people who wish to become politically involved. The current process for registration which demands a copy of household registration and paper copies of a member's details is not a policy that adheres to the government's 4.0 initiative," Mr Abhisit said.
The Democrat Party will attend tomorrow's meeting with the EC to ask whether the application will be approved.
