NLA seeks court’s response on EC selection
THE NATIONAL Legislative Assembly (NLA) would send a letter to the Supreme Court asking whether it had followed the appropriate procedures and law in selecting two new election commissioners from its judges, NLA Vice President Surachai Liengboonlertchai said yesterday.
The NLA convened yesterday to consider setting up a panel to scrutinise the qualifications of the seven new members of the Election Commission (EC), two of whom were picked by the Supreme Court.
However, some NLA members, including Wallop Tang-kananurak, observed that the selection of the two commissioners by the court was being questioned by the public, while the court would clarify the process.
They suggested contacting the court and asking it to confirm its procedures first. Wallop said if the NLA proceeded with its scrutiny of the qualifications of the five commissioners picked by the selection committee first, it could later complicate the selection process of an EC president.
Wallop proposed the meeting to seek the court’s response before setting up an EC qualification scrutiny panel.
The Supreme Court, as required by the new EC law, was obliged to select two EC commissioners out of seven. It selected one commissioner, Chatchai Chanpraisri, who is Justice Court chief, on November 17, before picking Pakorn Mahannop, also a Justice Court judge.