Provisions that provide the basis for the dissolution of political parties under the political parties law are problematic and should be amended, says Pheu Thai Party leader Cholnan Srikaew.
Section 28 and 29 of the law can be open to broad interpretation and are riddled with problems, Dr Cholnan said.
Section 28 prohibits political parties from allowing non-party members from dominating, influencing or directing party affairs directly or indirectly, to limit the freedom of party members.
Section 29 forbids non-party members from dominating, influencing or directing party affairs directly or indirectly, to limit party members' freedom.
Under the party's proposed amendment, non-members can give advice, suggestions, recommendations or information to parties related to political activities, Dr Cholnan said.
"Under the current provisions, if someone offers advice and a party takes it by the consent of a party executive board and hold activities on the advice, this could be interpreted as an act of dominating a party, despite the advice being useful," he said.
"Therefore, several parties agreed such an interpretation is ambiguous, and they have proposed amendments to the sections, with some even proposing they be revoked."
However, critics see the proposed revision as Pheu Thai's attempt to allow fugitive prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to exert influence over the party. The main opposition party now faces several petitions seeking its dissolution over such allegations.
"Pheu Thai has been accused of pushing a hidden agenda for the benefit of someone. I insist that we are only seeking changes in order to make it clear that any advice or suggestions that are useful to parties should not be prohibited to prevent any interpretation," Dr Cholnan said. "We want to prevent any parties from political persecution."
The bill proposed by Pheu Thai is one of 10 proposed amendments to two organic laws related to the elections of MPs.
Parliament President Chuan Leekpai said the joint sitting of MPs and senators will be held on Thursday and Friday to consider whether to accept for deliberation the proposed amendments to the political parties law and the law on MP elections in the first reading.
The amendments to the two organic laws are intended to reflect constitutional changes in the election system. The push to restore the two-ballot electoral system was royally endorsed and published in the Royal Gazette on Nov 21.
Under the changes, the number of constituency MPs would be increased from 350 to 400 while the number of list MPs would decrease from 150 to 100.
