Govt tells EC to fix responsibility for Feb 2 poll failure
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The government has ordered the Election Commission to determine who should be held responsible for the Bt3.8-billion spent on the failed February 2 election.
The move follows the Office of the Auditor-General asking Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to fix the responsibility.
The Cabinet adopted the Council of State’s resolution on February 9 that recommended the Election Commission set up a fact-finding panel to fix responsibility for the huge loss and which officials had violated the the civil code.
Since many state agencies are involved in holding a general election, the Office also asked the government to prevent such losses in future by instructing concerned agencies to map out preventative measures.
The Constitution Drafting Committee is drafting provisions covering a new election system and state agencies will have to ensure that their measures comply with the new charter.
At the February 2 general election, voting was disrupted in 69 of the 375 constituencies by protesters led by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee. They called for a boycott of the poll.
This made a re-run in several stages necessary, contingent on the security situation in affected districts. \\
The first re-run date was on March 2. Results from the February 2 poll were not announced before voting took place.
On March 22, the Constitutional Court declared the election invalid on the grounds it was not completed in a day.
