"I want to make it clear about my status that I don't violate constitutional rules as an EC contender," the outspoken senator said. The law prohibits Parliament members to register as an EC candidate.

The Supreme Court is said to be nominating Kaewsan as one of its EC candidates before submitting the Senate 10 names to pick the final five.

Kaewsan said he had intended to resign if he was picked for the final 10. However, he believed some people were attempting to cause trouble in the EC selection process by deeply scrutinsing the candidates' qualifications.

Hence, he'd better quit the senatorial post to prevent any situations which might put him in trouble if he was picked as a new EC member, he said.

A new EC selection began last week after three remaining commissioners Vasana Puemlarp, Prinya Nakchudtree and Virachai Naewboonnien were jailed for unlawful handling of the April 2 election. One had resigned earlier and the other dead.

Caretaker senator Kamloonthep Devakul also resigned yesterday amid a report that he will be in a list of EC candidates.

Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Suchon Chaleekrua insisted that the new five EC members should be selected by the end of this month, which would have enough time to manage the election on October 15.

His legal team, he said, would help an adhoc panel for checking candidates' backgrounds to cut its long process. It would set a public mailbox for any complaints about the candidates before passing them to the panel.

The Nation