He said on Monday that he had found that a few candidates of pro-junta Phalang Pracharat and Thaksin Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai were in violation of the law prohibiting them from being shareholders in media businesses.

“I won’t discriminate. I will lodge complaints [against those who breach the law] on Thursday, no matter whether they are with pro-democracy or pro-junta,” he added.

Both the Constitution and the MPs Election Act prohibit MP candidates from holding shares in media companies.

Srisuwan on Monday lodged a complaint with the EC over the alleged violation of the same law by 11 Future Forward Party MPs-to-be.

He urged the electoral agency to suspend endorsement of the poll results for these candidates and to revoke their electoral rights, too.

If found guilty, they face one to 10 years in jail and a fine of between Bt20,000 and Bt200,000.

Their suffrage rights would also be revoked for 20 years.

Srisuwan had earlier filed a complaint concerning Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, alleging the same law violation.

Sunday’s announcement of the recount in Nakhon Pathom province said the Future Forward Party had won over the Democrat Party by 65 votes.

But it seems the Democrat was the rightful winner over Future Forward by four votes.

The confusion arose on Sunday when EC commissioner Chatchai Chanpraisri told the press that the recount had found that Future Forward won the election in Nakhon Pathom’s first constituency after the recount.

That led the Democrat Party to challenge the new total, saying it had evidence that showed its candidate Sinthop Kaewpichit had won the constituency with 35,711 votes, while Future Forward candidate Savika Limpasuwanna earned 35,707.

Before the recount, Sinthop was declared the winner in the constituency, but Savika petitioned the announcement, citing mistakes in the counting.

The EC’s secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma admitted on Monday the Democrat account was accurate.

In a press conference, the agency deputy secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said the incorrect results announced on Sunday were unofficial and were made before the counting tally had been completed.

The agency was slammed harshly for the mistake. The Democrat deputy leader Satit Pitutacha wrote on Facebook: ”Please, do not make any more mistake. Your agency has already suffered a severe credibility crisis.”

The recount was organised after Future Forward candidate Savika Limpasuwanna filed a complaint with the Election Commission, citing a possible miscount.

In the previous count, Savika lost to Democrat candidate Sinthop Kaewpichit by some 140 votes. But after tallying the votes herself, she discovered a mistake might have been made and that she had in fact come out on top.

The recount on Sunday in the whole constituency with over 240 polling stations showed that Savika that indeed come first, winning 62 more votes than her Democrat opponent.

The Future Forward candidate got 35,707 votes while the Democrat received 35,645.

According to the EC, more objections were unlikely to be filed. In Sunday’s recount, all parties sent representatives to observe the recount and did not raise any objections.

FUTURE FORWARD is staring at the possibility of its strength in Parliament further eroding as 11 of its MPs-to-be are targets for disqualification after social activist Srisuwan Janya said he planned to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) today over their alleged shareholdings in media companies.

Srisuwan said yesterday he had been tipped off by many people about their shareholdings in media companies, which is prohibited for MP candidates. He said he found that at least 11 MP candidates from Future Forward may have breached the law.

If found guilty, they face one to 10 years in jail and a fine of between Bt20,000 to Bt200,000. Their suffrage rights would also be revoked for 20 years.

In response to criticism that he was targeting only anti-junta politicians for disqualification, the social activist said he was gathering information about pro-junta politicians too for violating the same law. He would be lodging complaints soon, he added.

Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has already been hit with the same allegation. He is scheduled to meet the poll agency tomorrow to clarify the matter.

Thanathorn, however, said yesterday he was ready to provide any information to the EC. All the current allegations about his shareholdings in a media company were based on media speculation and lacked any evidence, he added.

The politician insisted he had transferred his shares to his mother on January 8, well before the EC allowed MP candidates to register the following month.

Reacting to news that he was not in Bangkok on that day for the transaction, Thanathorn challenged Srisuwan or anyone else to seek information about his whereabouts from his cellphone network provider and put them out before the public.

EC accused of double standards

While Thanathorn claimed he had travelled by car from Buri Ram to the capital to complete the business transaction on that day, his opponents and media questioned if it were possible to drive a distance of 400 kilometres within a few hours.

In a related development, another anti-junta politician Ruangkrai Leekitwattana would today petition the Ombudsman to investigate if the EC was discriminating against Thanathorn.

Previously, the agency had turned down a complaint against junta chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha owning online media channels such as Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram accounts, which could be monetised, he said. This suggested that the EC had double standards in how it treated Prayut and Thanathorn, he said.

Though Future Forward Party MP candidates were being targeted for disqualification, the party might also gain another MP winner after recounting yesterday in one constituency in Nakhon Pathom province.

The candidate, Savika Limmasuwanna, was expected to win after the recount. She was trailing by some 140 votes behind the Democrat Party winner when the miscounting was reported.

As of press time, the final result remained unknown with 29 polling units yet to begin counting. The constituency has more than 240 units with 60 sets of referees counting the ballots. The recounting was observed by the people as well as party representatives, including Thanathorn.

In Chumphon province, an election rerun was held yesterday. The result remained unknown as of press time.

Another election rerun is due to be held in Chiang Mai province next month after a candidate from Pheu Thai Party was disqualified for allegedly giving a cash gift to a temple.

With the post-election politics engulfed in lawsuits, constitutional complications and a power struggle between the pro- and anti-junta groups, a survey released yesterday showed nearly half of the people (47.33 per cent) believed politics now to be as confusing as before the election.

The poll, conducted by Suan Dusit Poll based on responses from 1,107 people in the past week, also showed one-third of the people viewed the post-election politics as confusing. Around 40 per cent said they looked forward to a new government taking office and a new prime minister while 32.03 and 25.96 per cent respectively said they cared for the handling of economic issues and improvement of quality of life.

The EC last week resolved to press a charge against Thanathorn, accusing him of violating electoral laws by owning or holding 675,000 shares in V-Luck Media Company while registering as a party-list candidate for the general election.

Both the Constitution and the MPs Election Act prohibit MP candidates from holding shares in media companies. If found guilty, Thanathorn would be disqualified as an MP and face a possible jail term of one to 10 years as well as a ban from running in elections for 20 years.

Thanathorn is scheduled to give testimony to defend himself before the EC today.

The legal question over whether the EC is authorised to investigate Thanathorn, who is the No 1 party-list candidate for Future Forward, has been debated for more than a week.

One camp, including the Future Forward legal team, insists that the EC has no authority to now probe qualifications of party-list MPs, as that period had already passed or had to be completed before the March 24 election day.

Moreover, Article 53 of the election law stating the EC’s authority to scrutinise MP qualifications is only applicable to constituency MPs, and not to party-list MPs, the legal team is claiming.

Others weighing in have cited Article 132 of the election law. It states that in the event that the agency has convincing evidence that any candidate had caused the election to be held without “honesty and fairness” the body is authorised to suspend that candidate’s right to contest elections for one year, or issue an “orange” card to the candidate. That decision must be made before the EC endorses the poll results.

Proponents of this legal argument say that a candidate who was well aware that he or she is disqualified from running in the election, but had still registered, is deemed to have violated Article 132.

But the other side argues that Article 132 applies to election fraud and not to an MP’s qualifications.

In either case, a wrong move by the EC could cause events to snowball, experts warn.

To avoid any legal lawsuits or having their decision backfire, the EC should first endorse Thanathorn as an MP, said Stithorn Thananithichot, a political scientist from King Prajadhipok’s Institute.

If the EC then found Thanathorn guilty, it would forward the case to the Constitutional Court as stated in the Constitution, Stithorn said. He agreed with the legal defence team that the period to probe a party-list candidate’s qualification was over.

The process recommended by Stithorn was formerly known as an “impeachment for political office holders”.

Yuthaporn Issarachai, a political scientist from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said the EC may decide that by holding the shares while running as a candidate, Thanathorn was deemed to have caused the election to be held without “fairness” under Article 132.

If Thanathorn failed to convince the EC otherwise, he could be orange-carded and face criminal charges if he was found to have applied to become an MP knowing that he was not qualified, Yuthaporn said, adding that his party could also be dissolved.

If the body issued a card, the law requires that the case then be sent to the Supreme Court’s Electoral Cases Division, where both the EC and Thanathorn would have to defend themselves.

Stithorn warned that there is a risk for the EC in giving Thanathorn a card, as it could face legal countersuits if it failed to provide sufficient evidence to the court.

Moreover, it could backfire on the EC, as carding Thanathorn would likely be counter to public sentiment and result in the EC losing rather than gaining, he added.

One consequence of ousting Thanathorn, whose party is tipped to win around 80 MP seats from last month’s election, is that the pro-junta bloc of parties may find it easier form the next government, Stithorn said.

But the 40-year-old party leader would be able to make moves to try to convince Thais that the pro-democracy bloc of which Future Forward is a key player had been bullied and received unfair treatment.

“It could also help strengthen Future Forward,” the academic said.

Aside from the matter of the legal quagmire that the EC finds itself in, there is also the matter of establishing the fact of whether Thanathorn had transferred the media-company shares to his mother before registering as a candidate. His explanations so far appear questionable, said Yuthaporn.

Some of the evidence cited and clarifications made by Thanathorn and his legal team remain confusing and may not be factually accurate, say political observers.

Thanathorn has previously claimed that he had transferred all of his media-firm shares to his mother on January 8, one month before registration for the election.

But facts appear to show that the Department of Business Development was notified of the change in shareholders on March 21, three days before the election.

The onus is on Thanathorn to provide the evidence needed to defend himself to the EC or the court, observers say.

WITH LAST month’s election stalemate stalling all attempts to form a coalition government, political analysts have warned that “orange cards” issued by the Election Commission (EC) could easily tip the balance in favour of one bloc or another.

The EC, which in the past has slapped electoral offenders with red or yellow cards, issued its first orange card last week. Pheu Thai candidate Surapon Kietchaiyakorn stands accused of buying votes in Chiang Mai province’s Constituency 8.

The orange card revokes his electoral rights for one year and triggers a fresh election in the riding, which he is not allowed to contest. He has asked that the EC decision be reviewed.

If the EC issued sufficient orange cards to MPs who face complaints, it could affect the fortunes of both anti-junta and pro-junta blocs vying to form a coalition government, said Stithorn Thananithichot, a political scientist at King Prajadhipok’s Institute.

The more orange cards issued and the greater the chance that the results could advantage one bloc while disadvantaging the other, Stithorn said.

The final seat counts for those making up the two blocs – one led by Pheu Thai and the other by the Phalang Pracharat Party – may change from the unofficial post-poll estimates once all cards are issued, he said.

Based on unofficial results, the two camps are neck and neck in the MP count – the Pheu Thai-led group has 252 MPs while the Phalang Pracharat bloc is expected to have 248.

“It could be possible that Phalang Pracharat ends up with more while the Pheu Thai camp loses some,” Stithorn said. Both have claimed the right to try and form the next government.

Yuthaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, estimated that the orange card to Surapon could cost Pheu Thai two seats, which would reduce the combined number of seats held by the Pheu Thai-led bloc from 252 to 250.

“The political equation could change with the issuance of just four or five orange cards to candidates from any party in either camp,” said Yuthaporn. “The representative strength they have in hand could be turned upside down.”

The orange card has been introduced to supplement previous yellow and red cards. By law, before official results are endorsed, the EC can give an orange card to any candidate it deems to have been involved in vote-buying.

A candidate given an orange card can appeal to the Supreme Court.

The fresh election automatically triggered can be contested by the same candidates – except for one given an orange card.

If the carded candidate did not win the earlier election, no fresh election is called, but the disqualified candidate loses all votes received.

And as these votes are not taken into account, it could affect the total number of seats the party could have in Parliament.

Pheu Thai, tipped to win 137 seats, will definitely lose one MP seat with Surapon’s disqualification, Stithorn explained.

The party will also lose the 52,165 votes he received, which would have been counted toward the total number of MP seats the party will be allocated.

Stithorn said it’s likely that, in the fresh election in Constituency 8, many of Surapon’s 52,165 previous supporters will shift their votes to the Future Forward Party, which is in the same anti-junta camp as Pheu Thai.

Future Forward, currently tipped to win around 80 seats, might gain an MP in the constituency, he said, but that does not mean it will end up with more MP seats in total.

“It is not certain whether the total of votes parties receive from the fresh election would alter the number of total MP seats they won in the general election. It depends on which formula the EC uses in calculating and allocating party-list seats.”

Stithorn believes the fresh election outcome could instead give more MP seats to small and medium-sized parties, which will play a crucial role in deciding which camp is successful in forming the government.

And that could affect the possibility of either bloc being able to form a coalition government as well, he noted.

If the EC gives more than five per cent of the total 350 constituency MPs to candidates, it could risk failing to honour a constitutional requirement to endorse 95 per cent of the results within 60 days of the election – by May 24 – Stithorn added.

“Some [people or parties] could file a lawsuit against the EC for not following the roadmap of the election,” he warned.