The decision on whether to forward to the Constitution Court a case of alleged serious electoral fraud by the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party will be made on Tuesday morning.

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) had hoped a decision could be taken yesterday, but it was delayed because of the huge amount of case documents - about 2,000 pages - said OAG spokesman Atthaphol Yaisawang.

The Election Commission (EC) has endorsed charges that Thai Rak Thai committed major electoral fraud, leaving the party facing the real threat of being disbanded.

Senior prosecutors decided on Thursday that even though the EC had not summoned the head or representatives of Thai Rak Thai to defend themselves, the OAG could consider whether it should forward the case to the Constitution Court.

"We must look into whether it [the alleged fraud] was done in a personal capacity or on behalf of the party," said Atthapol.

He said EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp had recommended that the party be dissolved.

Atthapol said Article 19 (2) of the electoral law stipulated that representatives of a party accused of electoral fraud could defend themselves if they wished to do so. Thai Rak Thai had forfeited that right because no representative had chosen to defend the party, even though the EC subcommittee report on the case was in the public domain, he said.

The matter can be forwarded to the Constitution Court if there is enough evidence, he added. The Constitution Court can then summon the party's head or representative, but the OAG does not have the authority to do so.

Atthapol said more charges could be made by Tuesday after close scrutiny of the 2,000 pages of the EC report.

 Thai Rak Thai has been accused of funding small parties to stand in April's general election in order to avoid having to win at least 20 per cent of the vote in unchallenged constituencies.

Meanwhile, Thai Rak Thai Party deputy secretary-general Prommin Lertsuridej yesterday filed a criminal defamation suit against Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban.

The Thai Rak Thai suit is seeking Bt100 million in damages over accusations by Suthep that senior Thai Rak Thai members had lobbied small parties to file candidates in the April 2 election.

The suit claims that Suthep accused the Thai Rak Thai members of conspiring to subvert the democratic system by recruiting small parties to field contestants in constituencies where Thai Rak Thai candidates were unsure of polling enough votes.

While the Criminal Court said it had discussed proceeding with the case, it would first have to gather evidence to ascertain whether it was well grounded.

If it proceeds, the next stage would be to summon Democrat Party members to testify.

The court has invited members of each party to a hearing next month.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation