At the end of March, 97 political groups applied to be registered as political parties. Come April, public attention has turned to existing political parties whose party members are required to reconfirm their membership status. These are some of the steps the military regime under the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has taken to manipulate our politics ahead of the election next year.
The intention is clear: to weaken the political party system in order to maintain its grip. The attempt is to prevent political parties recouping mass support. It is also to break up large existing political parties, in particular Pheu Thai.
By tradition, after a coup, all political parties were disbanded while the constitution was revoked. Once a new charter came into effect, political parties, old and new, would reorganise and run in elections. Party members did not matter much, most parties had a few thousand at most.
