MANY MEMBERS of the Cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) who aspire to become senators are expected to resign soon, as the junta chief readies senatorial appointments for royal endorsement by the end of the week.

The ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will submit its list of 250 appointed senators by this Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said.

He said that aspiring senators would first need to quit their current posts in the government and the NCPO before the list can be submitted for royal endorsement.

Among the Cabinet members expected to be made senators are Deputy Prime Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya, Education Minis-ter Teerakiat Jareonsettasin, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, Labour Minister Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo, Deputy Defence Minister General Chaichan Chang-mongkol and Natural Resources and Environment Minister General Surasak Karnjanarat.

Somchai Sawangkarn, secretary to the NLA whips, yesterday declined to estimate how many members of the Assembly would resign to become senators, only suggesting that they should give up their current posts before a new Parliament convenes. Speculation has it that many NLA members will tender their resignations today, when it convenes for the last time.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) is expected to announce results of the March 24 general election for constituency MPs today.

Results of party-list MPs are likely to be announced tomorrow, although an EC source said yesterday that the commission has not yet completed its legal action regarding complaints against several party candidates expecting to get elected, including Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.

Thanathorn is accused of holding shares in a media company while applying to contest the election, which is prohibited by law.

The election commissioners are scheduled to meet at 10.30am today to finalise the list of elected constituency MPs and this afternoon they will hold a press conference to announce the official endorsement of at least 95 per cent of elected constituency MPs, as required by law, according to the source.

Court to review law

Also tomorrow, the Constitutional Court is scheduled to rule on whether Article 128 of the MP Election Act is in conflict with the Constitution. The clause involves the calculation of party-list MPs based on the number of votes obtained by political parties in the general election.

The court is expected to today obtain copies of the minutes of Constitution Drafting Assembly meetings regarding the clause in question. The case had been brought to court by Office of the Ombudsman.

In a related development, Deputy PM Wissanu said yesterday that the junta and the government would meet today to discuss the revocation of orders and announcements originally issued by the junta, but were no longer considered necessary. Some of these orders were issued as far back as 2014, he noted.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also NCPO chief, said that since the coronation ceremony is over and the government and the junta have not met for a long time, this was a good time to hold a discussion, Wissanu noted. They will consider the use of absolute power under Article 44 to abolish those announcements and orders, he added.

In fact, a junta meeting held on April 30 had already taken decisions on some issues, but Deputy PM Chatchai wanted the order related to fisheries to be revoked with some conditions. This order will be reconsidered today.

The polling agency panel on the election’s administration on Monday reported the results to the EC for further examination.

The EC will then on Tuesday morning conduct a final review and examination of the results, before in the afternoon revealing about 95 per cent of the winners, as stipulated by the Constitution.

It is reported that the EC will then announce the names of party-list winners on Wednesday, including those who are under investigation for violating election laws.

The electoral agency will later ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the under-investigation candidates.

Some of these were issued in 2014, Wissanu said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also the junta chief, said the junta and the government had not officially met for long time and that with the Royal Coronation now over, it was a good time to hold this discussion, according to Wissanu.

They will consider the use of absolute power under Article 44 to abolish those announcements and orders, Wissanu said.

In fact, a junta meeting held on April 30 already took decisions on certain issues but Deputy Prime Minister Chatchai Salikalaya asked that a fisheries-related order be revoked with some conditions. This will be reconsidered on Tuesday.

Srisuwan Chanya, a social activist, earlier this week, asked the EC to take legal action against 11 candidates of the party, claiming they owned shares in media firms.

If a candidate is found guilty of the claim they could be jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined Bt20,000 to Bt200,000. Their electoral rights would be banned for 20 years.

Party list candidate Karom Ponpornklang, representing the 11 candidates, told reporters that he and other candidates had no stocks in any media companies. He claimed Srisuwan was politically motivated and has no evidence to back up his claims.

Karom also referred to the candidates’ request for police to take action against Srisuwan for filing false information against them on Thursday.

He said Srisuwan should take responsibility for the allegation and should not walk free when they proved groundless.

“We submitted the police’s request to the EC to protect our rights,” he said. Srisuwan said he was not disturbed by the police complaint, saying he had enough solid evidence before he approached the EC.

The Future Forward leader, Thanathorn Juengrungruengkit, also faced the same allegation and has already met the EC panel to defend himself.

THE ELECTION Commission (EC) will announce the final election results next Tuesday, a day after the Royal Coronation ceremony, amid the current political turbulence heightened by lawsuits and the uncertainty over allocation of MP seats.

The agency deputy secretary-general Nat Laosisavakul yesterday said the long-awaited poll results would be officially announced on two separate days. The Constitution demands that the EC endorse the constituency MPs first before proceeding to determine the number of party-list MPs each party would have, he explained.

Hence, the agency would next Tuesday endorse the winners of at least 95 per cent of the 350 constituencies. The 150 successful party-list MPs, meanwhile, will be announced on the following day, he said.

The schedule will meet the deadline imposed by the Constitution, which stipulates the election must be completed within 150 days of the electoral laws taking effect.

However, the debate over the calculation of party-list seats continues. While political observers and stakeholders are protesting against the calculation method proposed to be used by the EC, the agency has stood its ground, insisting the formula has been endorsed by the original law drafters.

Claims of a contradiction between the Constitution and the MP Election law has resulted in the current controversy.

The dispute over calculation was taken to the Constitutional Court by the Ombudsman, and the court yesterday agreed to hear the case and rule whether the MP Election law violated the Constitution.

The verdict, the court said, would be delivered next Wednesday – the same day the EC would announce its allocation of party-list seats.

The EC deputy secretary-general said the agency would not wait until the Constitutional Court gave a judgement. The endorsement had to be made on Wednesday, following the constitutional timeframe, he explained.

Meanwhile, post-election scrutiny continues, though the election results are set to be announced in less than a week.

The law has left room for the authority to clear these up, with the stipulation allowing the official announcement of 95 per cent of results. Re-runs of elections and recounts in embattled constituencies will take place after the announcement.

Chiang Mai, for instance, will have a constituency election re-run on May 26. The EC decided on a re-run and that date after the winning candidate in the March 24 poll, Suraphol Kiatchaiyakorn from Pheu Thai Party, was disqualified for giving a cash gift to a temple – an act the EC said was prohibited under the law.

Suraphol will be banned from running in elections for one year. Other candidates running in the March 24 election are re-contesting in the constituency and no registration for new candidates will be opened, according to the poll agency.

Meanwhile, in a Nakhon Pathom constituency where a recount last week had become confusing, a re-run was a possibility.

Future Forward candidate Savika Limpasuwanna yesterday lodged a complaint with the poll authority in Nakhon Pathom to consider a re-election in the constituency, citing inconsistency in the counting.

Savika had come second in the first count, 147 votes behind a Democrat candidate. In recount, she did not win but the difference was down to 62 votes.

She said irregularities had occurred during the counting and recounting and the inconsistent numbers also make the outcome unacceptable.

Savika demanded that the agency arrange a new election to ensure fairness and transparency, while the Nakhon Pathom case has ignited doubt about the country-wide poll.

In a related development, the EC also disqualified 11 candidates from several political parties, citing they were either members of two parties or members of the party they represented for less than 90 days.

Four candidates were from Palang Rak Thai, two from Palang Chatthai and one each from Palang Puangchon Thai, Prachatham Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, Chatpatta and Ruamjai Thai, according to the EC.

None of them was successful in the March 24 general election and so no re-elections were deemed necessary, but the votes gained by them would be invalidated and would not be included in the party-list seat calculation.

The commission said four candidates were from Palang Rak Thai, two from Palang Chatthai and one each from Palang Puangchon Thai, Prachatham Thai, Seriruam Thai, Chatpatta and Ruamjai Thai.

None of them was successful in the March 24 general election so no byelections were necessary.

Their votes would not be used in the calculation of the party lists.

THE March 24 election, far from bringing stability to politics, seems to have only unleashed a slugfest as politicians go for the jugular with lawsuits and complaints against rivals even as the country awaits anxiously the official election results more than a month since polling day.

The charges pressed in the past month have ranged from computer crimes to violation of electoral laws, and range in severity from causing small inconvenience to disqualification from office, a political ban and party dissolution.

In the latest tit-for-tat action, Pheu Thai Party yesterday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against the junta chief and Phalang Pracharat Party’s PM candidate, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, accusing him of handing out cash to public health volunteers to get them to vote for Phalang Pracharat.

The accusation was based on the Cabinet’s resolution in December to raise the pay for the volunteers from Bt600 to Bt1,000 a month with three months retroactive payment. The scheme cost the exchequer Bt4.2 billion and came into effect late in March – a couple of days before the election.

Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said yesterday such exploitation of the national budget would have landed an ordinary government leader in jail.

Also yesterday, Pheu Thai – the regime’s arch rival – also petitioned the EC to dissolve Phalang Pracharat for having approved an ineligible MP candidate.

The case involves Chanwit Wiphusiri, Phalang Pracharat’s successful MP candidate in Min Buri district, who is alleged to hold shares in a media company, which is prohibited for MP contestants.

The allegation was the same as the one levelled against the anti-junta leader of Future Forward Party, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. If found guilty, Thanathorn could be disqualified from the House of Representatives.

The Pheu Thai representative in the case, Narong Rungthanawong, told the press he would like the EC to scrutinise Chanwit the same way it had done Thanathorn, adding that Pheu Thai had already made sure none of its MPs were shareholders in media companies.

Prominent social activist Srisuwan Janya yesterday also filed the same complaint regarding Chanwit with the EC.

Srisuwan had earlier gone after Future Forward Party members, lodging multiple complaints against them, but the activist insisted yesterday that he treated candidates from all parties equally.

Responding to Thanathorn’s threat to also bring him to court, Srisuwan said he remained undeterred and might sue the politician again, accusing him of presenting false evidence to the EC in the media-shares case.

Meanwhile, anti-junta politician Seripisut Temiyavet yesterday faced a disqualification threat after one of his former subordinates, Tinnakorn Natmungkung, requested the EC to investigate whether Seripisut had been fired from a state office.

Dismissal from state office is a prohibition for MP candidates, under the Constitution.

In addition to these suits involving politicians, the poll authority itself is facing accusations of negligence of duty in failing to conduct the calculation of party-list MPs and seeking the Constitutional Court’s intervention on the matter. The EC has yet to clarify the issue. Its president, Ittiporn Boonpracong, yesterday would only say that the results would be announced next week following the timeframe, while refusing to say which method would be used.

THE TACTIC of going after Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and his anti-junta party members for alleged shareholdings in media companies could come back to haunt the pro-junta camp after a similar allegation was made against one of its members.

At least 12 members of the Future Forward Party, including Thanathorn, have been singled out for alleged shareholdings in media companies, putting them at risk of being disqualified as members of the House of Representatives.

The law prohibits holders of shares in media companies from contesting elections.

Party dissolution is also a possible punishment for parties that approved such ineligible candidates, according to the law.

Thanathorn yesterday met the Election Commission (EC) to clarify his case, but another anti-junta party, Pheu Thai, targeted the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party for a similar violation, accusing its executive Chanwit Wiphusiri of allegedly holding shares in media companies. Pheu Thai said it would lodge the complaint with the EC today.

Chanwit contested and won from Bangkok’s Min Buri district as Phalang Pracharat’s candidate and is set to become a member of the lower house.

At a press conference yesterday, Pheu Thai’s legal expert Chusak Sirinin said that as it could be proved Phalang Pracharat had approved Chanwit to contest in the election while he was a shareholder in a media company, the EC could petition the Constitutional Court to disband the party. Chanwit, meanwhile, argued yesterday that he was only involved in real estate business. His company was not involved in media, though it appeared on paper to be running a media business.

Separately, Thanathorn warned that if Future Forward members became targets for having media shareholdings, then many others from other parties would also have to go down for the same reason.

“If they’re going to apply this standard, MPs from all parties will disappear [from the lower house],” Thanathorn told the press.

Thanathorn had prepared some 27 items of evidence to prove to the poll authority that he had divested his stake on January 8, well before he registered to run in the election that took place a month later. Before meeting with the EC, Thanathorn told the press he had no trouble clarifying the issue. “I’m very carefree and confident. I didn’t have to prepare much for today. I only have to insist on the truth,” Thanathorn said. “I’m confident that I will be endorsed as an MP [when the election results are announced] on May 9.”

Thanathorn yesterday was accompanied by at least 80 colleagues, who would also become MPs, including party secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul who was a law professor before joining politics. Scores of supporters were also present to provide the politicians moral support at the EC office.

While the accusers were nitpicking about the transaction, Piyabutr asserted that the only worthwhile point was the transfer of shares was done on January 8, which was before MP registration and hence Thanathorn should not be disqualified. Piyabutr said the party had evidence that the shares of the 11 other party members had already been transferred and he believed they would eventually be cleared.

After meeting with the EC for over three hours, Thanathorn said the EC’s investigation committee had been unable to explain why the transaction had become an issue when the transfer was done before MP registration.

Thanathorn said he firmly believed the lawsuit was politically motivated.

Ex-law professor Piyabutr also said the party would sue the agency for negligence of duty.

The charge against Thanathorn may have been unlawful, he said. The EC should have allowed Thanathorn to clarify the matter before pressing the charge, he explained.

THE ELECTION Commission (EC)’s credibility has come under scrutiny yet again after it announced incorrect results for a recount on Sunday in a Nakhon Pathom constituency, held to “correct” a tally that had been questioned.

Observers and politicians voiced their concern at yet another gaffe, and urged the poll authority to reveal the March 24 results from every polling station and make them available online.

This latest election mishap came after ballots in Nakhon Pathom were recounted on Sunday. The mistake came to light when Future Forward candidate Savika Limpasuwanna, after trailing behind Democrat Sinthop Kaewpichit by 147 votes in the first count, was found to be ahead of him by 62 votes in the second tally.

The Democrats immediately protested the announcement, arguing that total votes from over 240 polling stations in the constituency should have shown Sinthop winning by four votes.

The EC yesterday admitted the Democrats were correct, and reasoned that the mistake had been made because the announcement was “unofficial”. As of yesterday, the poll authority had yet to issue the official recount results.

The agency’s deputy secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said yesterday that the recount process had yet to be completed, adding that the candidates had already been invited to witness its problems.

Initially, Sawang said the inconsistencies may have occurred from officials entering inaccurate numbers.

He later admitted that such repeated mistakes could shake the agency’s credibility, though he insisted that eventually, everything would be checked. He added that the ballots were stored safely in case a reason for rechecking or correcting the count arose.

However, the incident has further eroded public trust in the agency after a series of similar irregularities.

The public has been angered not only by the EC’s failure to provide a conclusive election result four weeks after voting, but also by mistakes that continue occurring, apparently due to poor administration.

The Future Forward Party yesterday demanded that a new election be held in the Nakhon Pathom constituency due to the confusion and inconsistency in vote counts.

“Such inconsistency makes it impossible to find a just conclusion to the election [here] or which count is correct,” the party’s statement read.

The party also cited a 20-second power cut during the recount on Sunday, as well as certain unspecified irregularities reported by observers, as reasons the EC should consider holding a re-election.

‘Release all results’

Meanwhile, political observers said to avoid bankrupting its credibility altogether, the EC should release the election results from every polling station for public inspection.

In a Facebook post, political critic Sirote Klampaiboon said the incident in Nakhon Pathom could be the last straw, as this repeated inconsistency in tallies threatened to destroy the trustworthiness of the entire election.

The EC, he said, should publish the results on the internet for the public to check, adding that this was necessary to ensure the right candidates are placed in the House of Representatives.

Similarly, pro-election activist Nuttaa Mahattana told The Nation that people have lost whatever trust they might have had in the EC with the latest irregularities.

“It’s come to the point where people are questioning the ballot count nationwide. The numbers have been all over the place, and never seem to add up when recounted,” Nutta said. “Now, a lot of people are wondering if the same thing has happened in their constituency. The EC has to provide us with the raw data from each and every polling unit. This would protect the public interest.”

Meanwhile, former EC commissioner Gothom Arya advised the agency to be humble, accept criticism and either improve or provide proper explanations. The most important thing about an election is accuracy, he said, adding that the wide-scale public doubt should be cleared with a recount of votes.