The move follows an awkward delay by agencies such as the Election Commission, which has drafted a new election bill for Parliament.

The EC is seeking tougher punishment in its draft organic law for any poll candidate it finds guilty of committing election fraud. Drafters of the new charter wanted such people banned from running in elections for 10 years and to pay compensation for state funds spent in any election that is voided.

These penalties are an interpretation of Section 226 in the new charter. The section says people found guilty of electoral fraud after a poll result is announced will have their cases submitted to court and their rights to run in elections will be revoked or their electoral rights possibly revoked for 10 years.

But the EC wants courts to be able to ban people convicted of electoral fraud from politics for life.

It has proposed ‘red cards’ and ‘black cards’ to denote the penalties. However, confusion arose because there was no clear stipulation about the basis of guilt to determine whether a wrongdoer is banned for 10 years – or for life.

Politicians have attacked the EC for taking the matter too far while officials argued that they strictly followed the constitution passed in last month’s referendum, which says that peoeple committing election fraud must be barred from entering politics.

After a three-hour meeting yesterday between the CDC and the EC, election expert Jarungwit Phumma told in a press briefing the drafters would be responsible for revising the EC’s draft organic law and would write clearly the basis of guilt for the issuing of ‘red’ and ‘black cards’.

Besides that issue, Jarungwit said the EC explained and clarified to the charter drafters the rationale behind its organic law draft.

He said, in short, the EC aimed to make election campaigns and contests inexpensive to allow new players who have less resources to contest an election and to tackle the problem of political parties receiving support from financiers.

In response to claims that the agency was boosting its power via the law, the EC man said it just followed the new charter, which aims to eradicate corruption in any form.

The EC is responsible for helping the drafters to write four organic laws on political parties, the election of MPs, selection of the Senate, plus rules and regulations for its agency. In order to make an election possible late next year, those laws are must be completed early next year.

Meanwhile, chief drafter Meechai Ruchupan said that those ultimately ruled by the Supreme Court as guilty of election fraud should be politically banned for life, according to the new constitution. Other minor offences, however, would likely be end with wrongdoers being deprived of their electoral rights for 10 years. Meechai said the law would be completed late this month.