Legal experts eye next poll
If the courts nullify the April 2 general election a new election must be called within 60 days, and a royal decree does not have to be issued first, two legal experts said yesterday.
Dr Worajet Pakeerat, a lecturer at Thammasat University's Faculty of Law, said Article 116 of the Constitution stipulates that in the case of a House dissolution, a general election must be called within 60 days. He said this Article must be applied if the courts nullify the election.Somkid Lertpaitoon, a drafter of the Constitution, said that even though Article 159 stipulates that the House must be convened within 30 days after an election there is no need to convene the House if it is impossible to achieve a quorum. He cited the selections of independent bodies, saying the selection process continues even if the selection cannot be made within the timeframe stipulated. In the case of party-list MPs, there is no need to call a new general election to fill one seat left vacant after Premsak Piayura resigned as a Thai Rak Thai candidate, Somkid added. Worajet agreed with Somkid on this point, saying that the Election Commission should fill all 400 seats of constituency MPs and not party-list MPs because every constituency needs to have its representative. Opas Boonlom, The Nation
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