Future Forward Party (FFP) leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit faces the prospect of being disqualified as an MP after the Election Commission (EC) resolved that there are grounds to substantiate allegations that he violated media shareholding rules.
The FFP, which has adopted a firm stance against the regime clinging onto power after the poll, has risen to prominence as a medium-sized political party after the March 24 election, as it won at least an estimated 80 House seats based on the EC's unofficial results.
The poll agency yesterday issued a press release stating that the commission's inquiry panel had gathered evidence which showed Mr Thanathorn held 675,000 shares in V-Luck Media Co, which runs several media outlets. Mr Thanathorn will have seven days to defend himself after he receives an EC statement informing him of the allegations.
EC deputy secretary-general, Sawaeng Boonmee, said yesterday that the EC has only launched an initial probe and it has not yet decided whether Mr Thanathorn was guilty as alleged. The inquiry panel will hear what Mr Thanathorn has to say about the issue and will then conclude and submit its findings to the EC, Mr Sawaeng said.
On March 25, Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, petitioned the EC to investigate whether Mr Thanathorn is qualified to be an MP.
Mr Srisuwan claimed Mr Thanathorn applied to be an MP candidate while still holding shares in V-Luck Media Co. This may constitute a breach of Section 98 (3) of the constitution, which bars owners or shareholders of media and/or publishing companies from applying to be MPs, he said.
If the EC decides Mr Thanathorn broke the rule before May 9 when it will endorse the election outcome, the poll commission will give him the so-called "orange card", suspending his right to contest in elections for one year.
Any decision the EC makes will then be sent to the Supreme Court for a final ruling on its legitimacy. However, if the EC does not announce a decision until after May 9, the case will be heard in the Constitutional Court.
Mr Thanathorn has dismissed the complaint as untrue and insisted he and his wife had transferred their shares to his mother on Jan 8 this year before he applied to stand in the March 24 general election.
However, the Department of Business Development revealed that there was a change in shareholdings of the company on March 21 just three days before the election. The change occurred after the MP candidacy application on Feb 6.
Therefore, it is up to the EC to interpret when Mr Thanathorn actually transferred his shares to his mother. According to Isara News Agency, V-Luck Media has 10 shareholders. The company explained that Mr Thanathorn and his wife had transferred their shares to Mr Thanathorn's mother on Jan 8.
However, a meeting of shareholders on March 19 this year included documents showing that the 10 shareholders attended the meeting, according to Isara News Agency.
FFP secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said yesterday that the law did not allow the EC to check the qualifications of MP candidates in the party-list system. Mr Thanathorn is named as the No.1 party-list candidate for the FFP.
