Election Commission urged to resign

BANGKOK, May 9 (TNA) – A panel of senior judges on Tuesday called on the Election Commission to resign as a ‘’sacrifice’’ for the sake of the country and the people.

Judges from three Courts--Supreme, Constitutional and Supreme Administrative--met for more than an hour following a ruling by the Constitutional Court on Monday to invalidate the April 2 general
election.

Supreme Court secretary-general Charan Phakdithanakul said the panel advocated the Constitional Court's decision that the April 2 general election was unconstitutional and the Election Commission should take the
blame for wrongfully organising it.

He added that the three Courts, vowing to carry on their obligations of solving the country's political crisis, would see to it that the new election is held in a fair and clean manner as well as being acceptable to the people.

Further discussions would be needed on guidelines for a fair election, Mr Charan said.

He outlined two alternatives that could lead to a fair election: the EC seeking the Supreme Court's assistance in organising the next election, and the EC resigning en masse to allow the Supreme Court to nominate 10 candidates for the Senate to select five members for the new EC.

Mr Charan pointed out that the first alternative would be more complicated since the Supreme Court would have to seek approval from the Judicial Commission as imposed by Article 145 of the Constitution.

Asked if the three Courts wanted the EC to resign, Mr Charan replied that he would not say so.

He however said the EC's "sacrifice" would pave the way for the implementation of Article 138 of the Constitution, thus leading the Supreme Court to help organise an efficient general election instead of
having to seek approval from the Judicial Commission.

If the EC sacrifices, Mr Charan said, the procedure in finding suitable people (for the new EC) can immediately start.

(TNA) May 09 2006

Public confidence in Election Commission at low level

BANGKOK, May 10 (TNA) - The public confidence in the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) has dropped to a low level, with scores of people urging election commissioners to resign en masse, according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by Assumption University on Tuesday--after the Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the April 2 general election and its by elections in late April were against the constitution and ordered a new election--found that only 31.3 of respondents said they were now confident in the EC's performance.

The majority of the respondents, or 52.0 per cent, shared the same opinion that all the election commissioners should resign en masse to show their high spirit and to take responsibility for organizing the unconstitutional elections.

Nearly 70 per cent of the respondents said, however, that they were confident in the country's three top courts--the Supreme Court at 69.6 per cent, the Administrative Court at 69.3 per cent and the Constitutional Court at 68.4 per cent.

Most of them, or 50.6 per cent, said they had followed up the country's political situation everyday over the past 30 days, while more than 40 per cent had followed up domestic politics 1-4 days a week.

The majority of the respondents, or 97.7 per cent, said they realized the importance of national politics, while 89.5 per cent wanted all parties concerned to hold talks to end the current political stalemate.

Nearly 74 per cent of those interviewed conceded they were fed up with domestic politics, while a similar proportion of those surveyed said they were also worried about the country's political situation and more than 45 per cent admitted there were stressed.

Most of the respondents, or 75.4 per cent, wanted a neutral panel to arrange the new general election to ensure its transparency and fairness.

TNA
10/05/2006