BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand’s opposition People’s Party filed a criminal lawsuit on Thursday against the Election Commission (EC), alleging a failure to ensure a fair and transparent electoral process despite the recent certification of members of parliament.
Wayo Assawarungruang, Deputy Leader of the People’s Party, submitted evidence to the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases against nine officials. The defendants include all seven Election Commissioners, Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee, and the Director of Election Support.
The lawsuit alleges malfeasance under Section 157 of the Criminal Code and violations of organic laws governing the EC and MP elections. The complaint centers on the EC’s admission that ballot data could be traced back to individual voters, a revelation the party argues fundamentally undermines the principle of a secret ballot.
Wayo stated that irregularities were first detected on Feb. 8 and repeated during the Feb. 22 re-run elections in certain districts. He noted that ballots used in the re-run lacked counterfoil serial numbers, which he argued made it impossible to verify the integrity of the vote and allowed opportunities for officials to tear off more ballots than the actual number of voters present.
The court is scheduled to decide whether to accept the case on March 24. If the case proceeds, the People’s Party plans to request the court to summon legal expert Wissanu Krea-ngam and representatives from the firms responsible for printing the three-colored ballots to testify as witnesses. (TNA)
