EC to try again to sort out candidate registrations
The Election Commission will try again today to decide what to do about the districts, mainly in the South, where MP constituency candidates were prevented from registering by barricades and other physical measures taken by protesters.
The EC met yesterday from 10am-1.15pm and was expected to reach an agreement on a course of action but concluded that there were not enough facts and legal details to come up with a concrete solution.
Secretary general Puchong Nutrawong said 123 candidates in the South failed to file applications and two political parties, including Pheu Thai, suggested extending the filing period, which has ended. The matter will be decided today. So far, 53 political parties and 1,272 candidates have registered.
Some people have lodged complaints that people had obstructed the election and that the EC was not punishing them, so the commission itself was guilty of dereliction of duty, he said. However, he insisted the EC was still collecting evidence to take criminal action against these people.
MP candidate Varanchai Chokchana has suggested that the remaining candidates be allowed to file online, but the commissioners were worried about the authenticity of that method and have no experience with it and so will not be taking such an initiative, Puchong said.
Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, the commissioner in charge of elections, said he had met with a very high-level representative of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the person recognised the challenges and what may happen if the polling does not go smoothly on February 2.
This was a good sign, as everyone seems to have a common understanding, he said. The caretaker government must acknowledge the possible repercussions and the reality that it may be necessary to defer the balloting. Some solution may be announced in 10 days’ time and the public should be relieved to learn about it, he said.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, opposition leader and head of the Democrat Party, said the EC should recommend to the caretaker administration of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that she postpone the election. The suggestion was made during his meeting with the EC.
The government should also listen to the voices of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, he said, and warned that if the government insisted on going ahead with the February 2 poll, it could fail like the one in 2006.
Abhisit did not meet with EC as planned but sent another person in his stead as Pheu Thai had changed its representative, Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intara-komalyasut said.
