EC petitions against six clauses in Constitution

Covering areas from the responsibility of authorities to the dismissal of current members, the issue will be put before the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) this Friday.
The agency was previously undecided on whether to bring the issue to the Constitutional Court, Phumpitak Kongkaew, the agency deputy secretary-general, said at a press briefing. The EC would let the current process work it out, he explained.
The six clauses that the EC believes contradict the charter cover three issues. 
Firstly, the removal of the current five members was against the rule of law, the tradition, and the intention of the Constitution.
Secondly, the qualification of commissioners, in Article 11 and 12, stipulate that candidates must be non-partisan and honest as well as have a clear understanding of the agency’s work, be free of political party’s influence, and have a proper attitude in fulfilling the EC’s tasks.
The EC argued that those were beyond what had been laid out in the Constitution. In addition, the Constitution did not state that the recruitment must take into consideration the qualifications required by the organic law, Phumpitak said. 
The last issue concerned the responsibility and authority of the agency. Phumpitak said that the EC regarded Article 26, 27, and 42 as being against the Constitution.
Article 26 of the draft bill requires a commissioner to consult with and seek approval from the EC before calling off polling in any constituencies, while the charter has empowered an individual commissioner to bring the vote to a halt or order a by-election, Phumpital said.
For Article 27, the deputy secretary general said that it was against the Constitution because it took away the EC’s power to hold an election for local administration when the Charter had allowed it to do so.
Article 42 was also not in line with the charter as it limited the EC’s power to investigate despite the Constitution stating otherwise, Phumpitak said.
It was expected that a joint committee to review the controversial clauses could be set up this month.