The Election Comm-ission has offered to share the responsibility of supervising a new election with the judiciary, a proposal seen as a desperate bid to ease mounting pressure on all of the current commissioners to step down.

The EC has until this point been on a collision course with the Constitution, Administrative and Supreme courts, which have declared the April 2 snap election void and threatened to intervene in a bid to salvage the shattered credibility of the country's election process.

The commissioners have rejected outright the courts' explicit call for their resignation to pave the way for intervention, and yesterday's offer of an olive branch signalled that the pressure was weighing heavily on them.

Now the EC has suggested it is ready to yield to the courts the power to issue "yellow" or "red cards" to candidates. It has also said it is willing to restrict its own authority to organising the election.

The proposed division of responsibilities is aimed at bolstering faith in the next election and allowing the much-criticised commissioners to keep their jobs.

According to an EC insider, articles 144 and 145 of the Constitution allow the sharing of power, because they stipulate that the EC, if necessary, can seek help from other agencies to ensure a free and fair election.

"Our idea is to have the courts in charge of handling complaints and considering who should receive yellow or red cards," said the insider, who asked not to be named. "The courts' involvement could come in the form of a committee. The committee's opinion on yellow and red cards would be undisputed by the EC. In this sense the EC's responsibilities would be limited solely to organising the election, something the courts have no expertise in anyway."

The source said the offer was the "best compromise", considering the fact that resignation by any commissioner would trigger a constitutional selection process to find a replacement, a time-consuming and fairly unpredictable situation.

The source said although the courts had recommended the commissioners resign, the judiciary had not ruled outright that the legal flaws of the April 2 snap election were a result of the EC's "abuse of power".

"The EC has not done anything wrong, and we believe that we can invoke the Constitution Court's rulings regarding the April 2 election to defend ourselves against all criminal charges being filed against us," the source said. This remark conspicuously coincided with speculation that, should the commissioners balk at resigning, they would be dealt with "the hard way".

Judicial sources have pointed to a pending case in which Democrat MPs have filed criminal charges against all four commissioners, accusing them of malfeasance and favouring the Thai Rak Thai Party.

A court inquiry into the charges has been set for May 29.

"The charges involve clear evidence and are relevant to the Constitution Court's nullification of the April 2 election, so we are hoping for a quick verdict," said outgoing Ubon Ratchathani Senator Nirand Pitakwatchara.

Legal experts foresee more problems if the Democrats' charges are accepted by the court, which means the commissioners automatically become defendants, bringing their already fragile legitimacy to manage another election into the limelight once again.

Supreme Court judge Wicha Mahakhun yesterday urged the commissioners to "read the signals" carefully when predicting how the courts intend to bring Thailand out of its present political crisis.

"The EC can invoke Article 145 and seek the court's help in supervising the election, or its members can sacrifice themselves and step down," said Wicha.

"The three courts have sent clear enough signals, but the EC may need a bit more time. This is, however, one of the biggest tasks ever undertaken by the courts. They are trying to protect our democracy and our political system, so I don't think they will falter as they pursue the course of action they have set themselves," said Wicha.

Wicha dismissed speculation that the commissioners had refused to resign because of a controversial case pending against Thai Rak Thai, controlled by caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

A fact-finding committee commissioned by the EC has implicated top Thai Rak Thai figures in an alleged scam to hire small parties to "compete" against Thai Rak Thai candidates in certain constituencies.

The alleged offence was said to have been devised to sidestep a constitutional rule that uncontested candidates must receive at least 20 per cent support from all eligible voters in their constituency to win.

"I don't believe they want to stay in order to help anyone. The law is the law, and the EC members are surely aware of that. Negligence is a crime, but I don't want anyone making speculations that will heap unfair pressure on the EC," Wicha said.