Reprieve for EC ex-chief
Play
The Supreme Court yesterday dropped the lawsuit against former Election Commission chairman Vasana Puemlarp and two other former commissioners who were accused of unlawfully organising the 2006 by-elections.
The court reasoned that Democrat MP Thaworn Senneam had no right to sue Vasana or the other EC members, as he did not sustain any personal damages.
The three were previously sentenced to four years in jail by the lower courts and had their electoral rights revoked for 10 years. The court dropped the suit against one of the suspects after he died.
In his suit, Thaworn alleged that Vasana and the other two had violated the 1998 EC Act by allowing failed candidates to re-contest in by-elections on April 23, 2006.
The by-elections were held after Thai Rak Thai candidates, who had no competitors in the preceding general elections due to a boycott by opposition parties, failed to earn a minimum 20 per cent of the votes. With competitors, Thai Rak Thai could avoid the minimum-vote requirement.
Earlier, the Criminal Court sentenced Vasana and the others to four years in jail each – a ruling upheld by the Appeals Court. However, the Supreme Court disagreed with the ruling on grounds that Thaworn was not an affected party as the Democrat did not contest the election.
