Five election commissioners get royal approval
The appointment of five new Election Commission (EC) members has received royal endorsement.
His Majesty the King issued his command on August 12 endorsing the appointment of the new EC president and four other commissioners, it was announced in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday.
In July, the five were endorsed by the National Legislative Assembly.
They were among seven candidates nominated to become new members of the EC, which will take charge of holding the next general election, expected early next year.
With the royal endorsement, the five newly appointed commissioners can now start performing their duty officially.
The five new EC members are Ittiporn Boonprakong, Suntud Sirianuntapiboon, Tawatchai Lertpaothai, Chatchai Chanpraisri and Pakorn Mahannop.
Ittiporn was selected to become the new EC president. He is a former director of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Suntud, an environmental technology professor, is the only academic, while the rest are former government officials.
Tawatchai was a former governor of Saraburi province. Chatchai and Pakorn are Supreme Court judges nominated by the court assembly for the EC posts.
Selection is underway to fill the last two EC seats. Under the 2017 Constitution, there are seven election commissioners, compared to five under the previous charter.
Meanwhile, the president of the current EC, Supachai Somcharoen, said on Wednesday that the outgoing election commissioners have no conflict of interest regarding the selection of election inspectors.
He said they are not allowed by law to become election commissioners again after completing their term. He added that they had no plans to enter politics.
Supachai said they performed their duty when they started the selection of election inspectors a few months before their successors were expected to take over.