A Thai court yesterday cleared the country's oldest political party on charges of election law violations, sparing it from possible disbandment ahead of crucial December elections.
While clearing the Democrat Party, the Constitutional Tribunal as press time was yet to issue a verdict on separate charges against the Thai Rak Thai party of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra that could result in it being dissolved.
"There are no legal grounds to disband" the Democrat Party, a judge read, bringing cheers and chants of "Democrats Fight On" from crowds gathered at the party headquarters.
The court took more than four hours to complete reading the charges and verdicts against the Democrats, and was expected to issue its ruling against Thai Rak Thai later last night.
"Today is the day many of us have been waiting for," Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said. "I want it to be the day that we close the chapter of confusion, stress and strain in the country. From tomorrow on, we have much to do and our priority is to bring back democracy to the country and go forward with the elections."
Thaksin's government was ousted by the military last September after months of political tension. The military will continue to rule the country in tandem with an appointed civilian government until new polls are held.
The court ruled the Democrat Party had not unfairly maligned Thaksin or breached election laws by urging voters to cast a "no" vote -- the equivalent of an abstention -- in last year's elections.
It also found the Democrats innocent of using a smaller party to trick Thai Rak Thai into election law violations, and ruled it had not obstructed a parliamentary candidate from registering in a southern constituency.
A guilty verdict against the still-powerful Thai Rak Thai could result in it being disbanded or its executives being banned from politics for five years. The party could, however, register under a different name.
In London, where he is living in exile, Thaksin urged supporters to remain calm.
"We have to respect the rules of the game. That is, the rule of the law," he said.
Phongthep Thepkanchana, deputy leader of Thai Rak Thai, told reporters party executives remained confident that it would not be disbanded.
Thai Rak Thai is accused of financing obscure parties to run against it in last year's elections, to get around rules requiring a minimum voter turnout in constituencies where single candidates run unopposed.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS