Thai Rak Thai executives face five-year ban from politics

BANGKOK (Nation): The Constitution Tribunal yesterday ruled that the Thai Rak Thai executives must be banned from politics for five years in line with a coup order.

The tribunal ruled that the Announcement No 27 of the Council for Democratic Reform had retroactive effect against the Thai Rak Thai executives.

The court ruled that executives had committed political crimes, not criminal offenses, and so the coup order could be retroactively enforced against them.

Thai Rak Thai leader Chaturon Chaisang said his party would appeal against the tribunal’s ruling that bans 111 Thai Rak Thai executives from politics for five years.

However, Chaturon did not elaborate how the appeal would be filed and said that he had yet to talk to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra about appealing against the ruling.

The Constitution Tribunal yesterday also announced that former Thai Rak Thai deputy leader Thamarak Isarangura and ex-deputy Secretary-General Pongsak Ruktapongpisal were found guilty of violating the election laws by paying and hiring politicians of Pattana Chart Thai party to run in the April 2 national poll.

Late last night, the tribunal ordered the Pattana Chart Thai and Thai Ground parties to be disbanded after finding them guilty in committing election frauds.

The judges also banned executives of the parties from politics for five years.