The Democrats have accused the commissioners of malfeasance and libel, which carries a punishment of one-to-10 years in prison or a fine of between Bt2,000 and Bt20,000.

Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban said the party's legal team would be at the first hearing.

He said he would testify to the court as the plaintiff against the EC chairman and commissioners and was confident the evidence was convincing enough to convict them.

Meanwhile, a lecturer at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University's Faculty of Law, said Section 148 of the Constitution, which provides legal immunity for the EC during the effectiveness of the Royal Decree for elections, was aimed at preventing angry politicians from unfairly filing complaints against the EC.

A smart legal expert would recommend the EC push for the Royal Decree to protect it during the election period, said Komsan Phokong.

However, if the Administrative Court ruled the Royal Decree for the April 2 election illegal, the EC's rights would be automatically nullified, he said.

"The EC tried to push to have the Royal Decree made effective as quickly as it could. They were only thinking about [being protected] until after the election. Then they were hoping to be protected by [caretaker Prime Minister] Thaksin [Shinawatra] after he was elected. Then the EC and Thaksin would help each other to retain their power and fix their mistakes," he said.

Suthep and his deputy, Thavorn Senneam, filed separated cases against the EC for malfeasance under Article 157 of the Criminal Code.

Thavorn cited the EC for allowing parliamentary candidates from other constituencies to re-run in the constituencies that needed by-elections after the only candidate for those constituencies failed to meet the 20-per-cent-of-the-vote requirement in the April 2 election.

Meanwhile, Suthep cited the EC for failing to charge a big party for hiring small parties to run in the election.

He also filed a libel suit against EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp for saying an "old" party had hired small parties to disrupt the election.

Besides these two cases, at least two other cases have been filed with the Criminal Court against the EC.

Caretaker Ubon Ratchathani senator Nirun Phitakwatchara and representatives from civic groups filed a malfeasance suit against the EC for illegally scheduling the April 2 election and arranging the ballot booths so that they allowed others to view how people voted.

The first hearing for these cases is scheduled for next Monday.

Former Democrat Party candidate for Samut Prakan, Uthen Chatpinyo, filed a suit for the same actions, and for making a decision on scheduling the election day without a quorum.

The court scheduled August 7 for the first hearing.

Democrat executive Suwaroj Palang, a member of the party's legal team, said the trial should not take too long as the Constitution Court and the Administrative Court had nullified the April 2 election.

The Criminal Court's verdict is expected to be in accord with the other two, he said.

However, Suthep's case might take longer than Thavorn's as it also included libel.

Bancha Khaengkhan,

Sathien Viriyapanpongsa

The Nation