Election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said on Monday that the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) could arrange the setting up of a joint panel at the end of this month, and the bill’s revision was expected to be completed by July 15.

The EC will meet on Tuesday to prepare evidence and documents proving that some clauses in the law passed by the NLA two weeks ago contravene the Constitution, he added.

The points concern the responsibility and authority of the EC, election organisation in local administrations, and the dismissal of the EC’s current members.

Somchai said there were three ways the agency would appeal to resist the so-called ‘resetting’ of the agency’s membership.

One calls for protection of all five current members, citing the rule of law, which encourages that laws must be fair to all people.

The second is the intent of the Constitution Drafting Commission on current members who meet the new qualifications set by the new charter, in terms of whether they can continue their term. Somchai said this could save at least three members from being dismissed.

The third concerns legislative tradition, in regard to which Somchai said the agency would argue that laws should follow certain norms and traditional processes, but that the NLA may have not done this.