SUDARAT KEYURAPHAN, one of the Pheu Thai Party’s prime ministerial candidates, has warned election commissioners not to calculate the number of party-list MPs in a way that benefits any particular group, which would be a violation of the Constitution.

Sudarat said yesterday on Facebook the Election Commission “must not risk violating the law, |particularly the Constitution, to help a group of people stay on in power”.

In response, the EC rejected Sudarat’s allegation, saying it had no intention of serving the interests of any particular group of people. Through its News Operation Centre, the agency also noted that her claim could cause misunderstanding and lack of confidence in the EC.

In a separate development yesterday, a senior Democrat Party figure has disputed a claim that many of its elected members want to join a coalition government headed by the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party.

Democrat chief adviser Chuan Leekpai said the party had made no determination on the matter.

The former premier was in effect disputing a claim made by fellow Democrat Thaworn Senneam that many in the party were ready to support a Phalang Pracharat-led coalition.

“We have to wait for the new executive board to make a resolution,” Chuan said. “This talk about joining a Phalang Pracharat coalition was just the personal view of Thaworn and his group. It’s not a party resolution.”

Thaworn, a successful candidate for the party, said on Facebook yesterday that most other Democrats elected in constituencies were agreed about joining a Phalang Pracharat-led coalition.

They simply want their own party’s policies put into effect by the next government, he said.

“If we’re in the opposition we’ll be unable to take care of the people fully,” Thaworn wrote. “And if there is any political upset that forces another election, we’ll have no selling point for our campaign.”

Thaworn had on Friday said about 30 elected Democrats met at party headquarters to possible coalition partnerships. He said his group’s call to be part of the next government was meant to ensure “the survival of the country”.

He said supporting Phalang Pracharat would not be contrary to the party’s ideology as some have alleged.

In the Future Forward camp, leader Thanathorn Juangroong-ruangkit said yesterday no one in the party was fearful or concerned about legal actions brought against him and other key party figures.

He said the legal charges were meant to damage the party, but all of the accused members were confident they would be proven innocent. “We believe in our innocence,” he said. “Nobody will be able to find us guilty. The party’s supporters can be assured about this.”

The billionaire politician stands accused of sedition and being involved in an illegal political gathering in 2015 while martial law was in force. He will be tried in military court.

Future Forward secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul |is charged with contempt of court and violating the Computer Crimes Act.

Referring to the legal action, Amnesty International Thailand campaigner Katherine Gerson yesterday called on the authorities to respect rights and avoid using criminal charges to “gag political enemies”. She also asked for an end to the practice of trying civilians in military court.

Meanwhile most people surveyed for a Suan Dusit Poll last week said they were “concerned” about official results of the March 24 election remaining unavailable. More than 40 per cent of respondents said they were “worried” that Thai politics was left in uncertainty. Almost 24 per cent said they were concerned that political foes were being drawn into a “severe dispute”.

Suan Dusit University surveyed 1,257 people in all regions of the country between April 2 and 6. Asked what should be done in the current situation, 51.3 per cent of respondents said all sides should work together, while almost 30 per cent called for the law to be respected.

The commission has come under fire for bungling ballot counts and delaying official results following the much-anticipated March 24 election, the first since a 2014 military coup.

The election has pitted the junta-backed Palang Pracharat party against Pheu Thai, a popular anti-military faction linked to an exiled billionaire.

Both have claimed the right to govern in the wake of polls with final tallies not expected for several weeks.

An election commissioner said Friday the body will investigate “66 people who got the highest votes in the constituency system” who were hit with complaints.

“Whether these 66 candidates would be disqualified would have to depend on our investigation,” said commissioner Pakorn Mahannop.

He added that investigation results “will affect the calculation” of final parliamentary seats.

Commission officials did not say what parties the candidates belonged to but said 300 complaints had been filed.

The vote is governed under a new military-scripted constitution that delegates 350 lower parliament seats to candidates who won their constituencies.

Another 150 “party list” seats will be allocated based on popular vote.

The 250 upper house seats are military-appointed, stacking the balance of power strongly in its favour.

Thailand’s Election Commission has been dogged with criticism since the poll over bungled vote counts, inconsistent tallies and more than 2.1 million invalidated ballots.

Earlier this week it ordered a re-count in two polling stations and a new vote in six polling sites, citing conflicting numbers between voter turnout and ballots tabulated.

The body had previously said a final tally would be announced by May 9, but Pakorn said Friday complete results may take even longer.

Early numbers showed Pheu Thai, the party linked to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, securing the majority of the constituency seats, with 137.

Junta-backed Palang Pracharat followed them with 97 seats, but they gained the highest in the popular vote — which tips their prime minister candidate junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha to return as a civilian premier.

Pheu Thai spokeswoman Ladawan Wongsriwong said her party doesn’t know how many of their candidates are under investigation, but called for the commission “to give them fairness … for the sake of constructive politics”.

POLITICAL PARTIES yesterday called on the Election Commission (EC) to reveal each polling station’s ballot count and hold new elections or re-count ballots in more than just the eight centres where it claims to have found discrepancies.

Pheu Thai Party MP candidate for Samut Prakan province, Chatchai na Bangchang, filed a complaint with the EC yesterday, calling on the agency to re-count the ballots as well as investigate the conduct of local election referees.

Several irregularities have been reported, he said, adding that in some stations there was an inconsistency in the numbers even after the ballots were counted twice, while referees in other polling stations refused to let observers in.

Mahachon Party’s Palinee Ngamprink, a transgender MP better known as Pauline, filed a similar petition yesterday, calling on the EC to disclose the election results in detail.

She emphasised that according to unofficial results announced the day after the election, her party had won more than 390,000 votes, but later the EC claimed Mahachon Party had only won some 17,000 votes.

Future Forward Party also yesterday called on the EC to reveal the results of the more than 92,000 polling stations nationwide to ensure transparency.

The party said its members had tried contacting individual polling stations for results, but they were turned away by officials who said the information was confidential.

The EC commissioners had on Wednesday decided that ballots would be recounted in two polling stations, while re-election will be held in six others.

Major discrepancies in ballots cast and voter turnout were reported in 10 polling stations, but EC deputy secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said yesterday that the case had already been settled in four of them.

The two polling stations where the ballots will be recounted are in Khon Kaen province. Sawang said the number of ballots counted, the voter turnout and the number of ballots cast did not tally. Such inconsistencies could mean some ballots have either gone missing or have been taken out of the polling stations, a phenomenon that the EC has been referring to as “skippy ballots”.

The six polling stations where a by-election will be held are in Lampang, Yasothon, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok and Bangkok provinces. The EC official explained that a re-election was required because the number of voters and ballots used were inconsistent and officials were unable to identify the cause.

“The MP election law states that the EC can order a re-count or a re-election if there is proof showing the election in that constituency was unfair or the counting was incorrect,” Sawang said.

The candidates in the constituencies requiring a new election will remain the same, he said, adding that they can campaign for votes but the budget will be reduced in line with the law.

In Bangkok, the station that will require a by-election is in Bang Kapi district, where several parties have demanded a re-count or re-election due to massive irregularities.

Future Forward Party, which was also one of the complainants, remained dissatisfied, saying a re-election in one area will not make much difference to the election result of an entire constituency. Irregularities have been reported in many polling stations in the Bang Kapi constituency, the party said.

As for the four polling stations that will face no action despite discrepancies, the EC official said this was because the electoral officials were able to explain what had happened.

He said that in most cases, voters had torn up their ballots after marking the wrong box and were not aware that this was unlawful. In one case, he said, a voter had mistakenly put a copy of his ID card on an A4 sheet of paper in the ballot box and taken the ballot home.

The referees found the copy of the voter’s ID card while counting the ballots and were able to track down the voter. They discovered the ballot paper in the voter’s car and charged him with illegally taking the ballot out of the polling station.