His comments come after critics voiced concerns over a proposed organic law in the House of Representatives elections that they fear would allow the EC to ban for life any politician found guilty of electoral fraud, without a ruling by a court.

Somchai reiterated that the EC was only able to apply yellow and orange cards against fraudulent politicians.

The yellow card refers to nullifying an election if irregularities have been found before an election date, while an orange card is a one-year ban imposed on winning candidates found having committed fraud after an election result announcement.

Under the new charter, a red card would be under a court’s jurisdiction. The court would consider issuing a red card to disqualify winning candidates after the election result is announced. An individual’s electoral rights could be revoked for 10 years for offences involving electoral fraud.

However, the new charter stops short of mentioning the revocation of rights, leaving room for interpretation. It only stipulates that candidates who have had their electoral rights revoked cannot run in an election, creating a question over “black cards” to address a ban on rights.

The EC’s role in banning politicians has become controversial since the commission is due to propose the MPs election law to the Constitutional Drafting Commission (CDC). The draft organic law gives the EC sweeping powers to deal with dishonest politicians.

Somchai, however, said the draft law focuses on election reform and solves deep-rooted election problems which occurred in the past, rather than giving the EC great power.

Four points have been reformed under the draft law, the commission said, including MP candidate processes, election campaigns, voting processes, and poll result announcements.

For instance, the parties can only use specific-sized posters for campaigns and place the posters in specific public places determined by the EC. These reforms would help reduce election costs, he said.

Regarding the election policies, Somchai said the EC would not have authority to screen or revoke any policies and it would only help disseminate policies to the public.

Somchai said the EC’s working group involved in drafting the law had not yet finished its work and there were many points to be revised before it could be forwarded to the CDC this Friday.

Meanwhile, the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) accepted its political reform committee’s recommendations on political parties and House of Representatives election draft bills. They will be forwarded to the CDC. The NRSA meeting voted 136 with 26 abstentions on the MPs election bill recommendation and 154 with 17 abstentions on that for the political parties bill.

Witthaya Kaewparadai, a member of the committee, said the NRSA would also submit its proposals to the National Council for Peace and Order. Witthaya said it also included an additional recommendation on promoting the coming election as a national issue, under which concerned agencies including the NCPO would be used to maintain order.

Witthaya insisted, however, that the NRSA did not literally address the controversial role of the NCPO in the election, as proposed earlier.

The committee chairman, Seri Suwanpanont, said the NRSA made the recommendations to be in line with the constitution’s intention to suppress chronic political fraud and corruption.

Kiat, a former chief of the Thailand Trade Representative Office, claimed that Yuttapong had made damaging comments at a press conference during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration.

At Civil Court on Monday, Yuttapong, who was deputy minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives under Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration, said he regretted the remarks and apologised.

Afterwards, the plaintiff decided not to pursue the lawsuit.

He said the list consisted of 20 to 30 local officials facing corruption investigations.

Executives of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), such as deputy governors, who are suspected of irregularities in City Hall’s controversial multi-million-baht “Light of Happiness” project are not on the list but are under investigation by the Centre for National Anti-Corruption (CNAC).

Paiboon said he had been informed that some politicians had been discussing using proxies or political nominees to avoid being punished under the Conflict of Interests bill.

He said the bill, which initially proposed punishing seven generations of convicted officials’ family connections, was being reviewed to determine whether the draft should be limited to three or four generations.

Council of State secretary-general Distat Hotrakitya said the council is considering suggestions from state agencies about issues related to the Conflict of Interests bills.

The council may alter the bill originally presented by the National Reform Steering Assembly for reasons of clarity.

Distat said the bill would define what constituted conflicts of interest as a pre-emptive measure.

The council will forward the revised bill to the Cabinet for approval soon.

CONCERNS mounted yesterday over a proposed organic law from the Election Commission that would allow it to ban for life any election candidate whose election rights are revoked by a court for fraud.

“Election fraud is not a crime that warrants a lifetime ban. It’s a serious punishment for politicians. It’s like cutting off their limbs,” Sodsri Sattayathum, a former election commissioner, said yesterday.

“With such a ban, politicians may be viewed as criminals.”

Most politicians would disagree with the EC proposal, she said.

Under its draft bill on the elections of members of Parliament, as proposed to the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), the EC would be authorised to impose a lifelong ban on contesting any election for any candidate judged guilty of cheating.

This is in line with in the new constitution’s provisions prohibiting such persons from becoming an MP, senator or political appointee, the EC argued. The proposed ban is called the “black card”, following the popular use of yellow, orange and red cards to denote other measures.

Peerasak Porchit, vice president of the National Legislative Assembly, warned about allowing the EC to give out such severe sentences.

“It is not appropriate to hand the EC such a great power. Any such serious punishment should be decided by a court following a proper trial,” he said.

Democrat Party politician Wirat Kalayasiri yesterday voiced disagreement against empowering the EC to imposing a lifetime ban on candidates. He said such power should be for courts, and not the EC. Wirat, a legal expert for the party, expressed concern that the EC might abuse that power as has happened in the past.

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan refused to answer a question on whether giving the EC the right to issue a “black card” would go beyond the new constitution.

He said he has not read the EC’s draft bill so he could not comment on the clauses in question.

However, the bill’s clauses on “orange card” and “red card” – revocations of the election rights of candidates found to have won dishonestly – were in line with provisions in the constitution, he said.

Ongart Klampaiboon, deputy Democrat Party leader, said he did not think politicians contesting elections honestly would have anything to fear.

However, such a ban must be decided in an honest and fair manner.

“Elections are like sports games and the candidates are like players. We must play by the rules,” he said.

The Democrats approved all efforts to prevent vote buying, as such measures were necessary to screen out politicians unsuitable to rule the country.

The EC’s proposed bill was just preliminary and still needed endorsement from the NLA and the CDC before it actually gets promulgated, he added.

The National Reform Steering Assembly, chaired by Tinnapan Nakata, convened to consider on the draft bills on MP elections and political parties as proposed by the NRSA’s political reform committee.

Following hours of debate, the assembly agreed to meet again today to vote on endorsing the panel’s proposed bills.

Colour-coded punishments

THE ELECTION COMMISSION (EC)’s draft of a new law on MP elections would empower the agency to punish candidates who are deemed to have cheated in different ways.

Yellow card: If an irregularity is suspected before the election, the EC could issue an order to nullify the election and call for a new round.

Orange card: Before official election results are announced, the EC could void the victory of winning candidates believed to have resorted to fraud and ban them from contesting elections for one year.

Red card: After the official vote results are announced, the EC can only seek a court order to disqualify elected MPs found to have no qualities required, or impose a 10-year ban against their electoral rights if found being fraudulent, and levy a fine amounting to 2 per cent of the cost of organising the election.

Black card: A lifelong ban on candidates whose electoral rights are revoked by court order for fraud, preventing them from contesting future elections. This is in line with clauses in the new constitution.

THE JUNTA’S order to stop civilians being brought before the Military Court was welcomed yesterday but rights groups said it would not significantly reduce worries related to the justice system.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), yesterday ordered the end of the Military Court’s jurisdiction over lese majeste cases and internal security offences, so such matters will now go back to civilian Courts of Justice.

The junta’s order no 55/2559 cited peace and calm as well as the smooth national referendum on the charter as reasons for relaxing security measures in order to grant full rights to national citizens in accordance with the rule of law, human rights principles and the new charter, which will come into force soon.

The order says under Article 44 of the Interim Charter, crimes related to security matters that take place from yesterday onward will be prosecuted in regular courts of justice.

The crimes include lese majeste in accordance with sections 107-112 of the Penal Code and offences against internal security under sections 113-118 such as sedition, possession of war weapons and explosive materials.

The NCPO expanded jurisdiction of the Military Court to try civilians alleged to have committed crimes against the monarchy and national security since May 25, 2014, a few days after the coup toppled the elected Yingluck Shinawatra government.

More than 1,800 individuals were prosecuted in the Military Court over that 27-month period and trials will continue in that forum as the order yesterday was not retroactive.

However, NCPO order 55/2559 yesterday retained permission for military officials to do a policing role.

Bringing civilians for prosecution in military courts was widely criticised by the international community and human right defenders.

The UN Human Rights Council in its second Universal Periodic Review in Geneva in May recommended that the government and junta should end the Military Court’s role in hearing cases related to civilians. Military courts were criticised for a lack of independence and rule of law.

But human rights advocates and lawyers said the junta’s order to lessen the military’s overwhelming power might not alleviate fears linked to the justice system, as it did not solve concerns at the grassroots level.

“Courts lie almost at the end of the justice process,” said Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher on Thailand for Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.

“But what is important is what is between the process. The order still lets military officers be equipped with police power. They can still perform arbitrary searches, arrest and detentions. That’s what we are still concerned about but remain unfixed.”

Sunai thought that the order could pre-empt a ruling on the NCPO’s actions during reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this month. That forum is where the junta government gives updates on its rights efforts after having been grilled in the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review in May.

Still, Sunai considered the order as a welcome attempt to adjust the power structure of the Military Court.

“But the junta should also look at root causes and how their so-called law violations are construed, if they are truly honest about enhancing the rights situation as claimed,” he said.

Yingcheep Atchanont, of the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), said the group had evaluated the overall political situation and concluded that the shift would not make a significant legal change.

“I think all courts have become influenced,” Yingcheep said. “For instance, there were cases that civil courts did not grant bail to people accused of lese majeste. They also punished people violating the [junta’s] ban on political gatherings [of more than four people].”

He felt that civil courts, despite not being attached to the military, had not done enough to check and balance the junta’s judicial power. “The lifting of the Military Court’s power may sound soothing. But by doing so, the junta also accepted that earlier roles of the court were not respecting the rights of accused people,” he said.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, there have been 1,546 cases brought to military courts since the junta came to power in 2014 with 1,811 people involved. Around 80 per cent of cases related to “wrongful” possession of arms and were not linked to political disturbances.