Supachai Somcharoen, president of the EC, said the EC believed they should be entitled to remain in their posts until their term ended because they were appointed under the now-defunct 2007 Constitution.

He said the new qualifications for EC members set under the draft constitution, which would challenge the tenures of some commissioners, should be applied only to future commissions.

He said the EC would also discuss with the NLA the appointments of new election inspectors, who the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) devised as a replacement for the EC in the provinces, as well as discuss the status of the EC.

Somchai explained that a relevant organic law should allow the EC to issue an Act to ensure its security and privileges, such as the organic laws for the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Constitutional Court.

He said the EC would also defend its need to take overseas trips after the CDC moved to limit the use of the agency’s budget on the activity. The trips are advantageous to the agency, he added.

EC commissioner Theerawat Theerarot will join Somchai in today’s meeting with a NLA committee led by NLA spokesman Jate Siratharanon.

Somchai said although the CDC had written an organic law foreign to what the EC had proposed, the NLA called the meeting to discuss the matter with the EC because the law would apply to the agency.

He said the EC was willing to abide by the rules regardless of the decision.