April hearing in disqualification case

The EC disqualified Distad on grounds that he had not been a resident of his Nakhon Sawan constituency for five years as required by law.

 

Prapun said it is necessary for the Supreme Court to consider the case because, if found guilty, Distad’s voting right could be revoked for five years and he may be required to pay the cost of a by-election. Distad can defend himself before the court, Prapun said.

 

The EC made its decision based on the facts and the evidence, Prapun said.

 

 The commission ruled that his name appeared on two house registrations, one in Bangkok and another in Nakhon Sawan. He also had two identification cards, bearing different numbers. 

 

Distad was able to run in the July 3 election last year because the assistant district officer of Nakhon Sawan’s Muang district verified that Distad had resided in the province for over five years. 

 

It is the responsibility of the local EC office to consider an MP’s candidate qualification. The national EC picked up the case only after a complaint was submitted, Prapun said.

 

Prapun said the EC was not selective in investigating its cases. This case is about filing false documents in an application to be an MP candidate, Prapun said. He added that it is different from the case of Pheu Thai party-list MP and red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan, whose MP status was questioned due to concerns over his political party membership. That case must be brought to the Constitution Court, he said.

 

“The EC did not want to disqualify Distad. The criticism that this case might affect the Pheu Thai Party arose because it was possible that Pheu Thai might have falsely approved Distad’s MP candidacy application. 

 

The EC has not considered whether the party did everything correctly. We only considered the disqualification [of Distad],” Prapun said.

 

The EC’s investigation found that the house registration system was revised in 1983 and might cause errors and result in the issuing of two ID cards of a person having the same name. However, that was for the government and the local registrars to decide, he said.