Panadda urges Interior officials to disregard remark by EC's Somchai

The move follows Confederation of Assistant District Chiefs president Rewat Kruabuddeemaha-chok’s call for Somchai Srisuthiyakorn to step down or apologise for saying that getting Interior officials to organise elections again would be akin to handing a sword back to bandits.
Panadda went on Facebook to urge Rewat – who called on members of the confederation in every province to protest against Somchai – to let go of his anger.
He said certain groups were waiting to take advantage of the situation to try and destroy the country and its institutions.
While Panadda said the Interior Ministry should not be referred to as a bandit, he believed the stressful atmosphere could lead to blunders and he himself had experienced awkward moments.
He said while the EC needed to improve regulations to prevent election fraud, the Interior Ministry was responsible for serving the public and should not get involved in elections or politics.
Meanwhile, Somsak Suriyamongkol, a specialist attached to the EC who once served as the body’s secretary-general, said it was unclear if the EC would be in charge of writing regulations and the Interior Ministry would organise elections – if the Constitution Drafting Committee’s proposal to change the EC’s role from organising elections to overseeing them is adopted.
He questioned whether the EC would still have the right to make decisions and punish those involved in electoral offences.
“If the EC just writes regulations but cannot control [anything], the agency is just a rubber stamp,” he said. “If there are electoral frauds, the EC would be blamed. If that is the case, then the Interior Ministry should just handle the whole business.”
He said the EC should have had the right to issue orders to transfer officials suspected of fraud instead of the Interior minister and Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary.
“By the time a panel to probe the suspects is established, an election is over,’’ he said.
EC member Boonsong Noisophon said the agency would still publish a handbook on investigations into election fraud cases even if it did not organise elections under the new charter because it was still useful.
He said the handbook would be finished next month and classified into different segments such as vote-buying and advance election campaigns.
He said the EC should have the right to issue search warrants and summons at all times, not only during elections.