EC chairman Apichart Sukhaggano said the law would require a disbanded political party to wait at least six months before registering again under the old name. He added that if the affected political party wanted to register immediately, it could do so under a different name.

He added, however, that due to the coup-makers' orders banning political party-related activities, registering a new political party would be impossible at the moment.

Commission member Sodsri Satayathum hinted yesterday that new parties might not be ready to contest the next general election if party founders chose not to take over existing parties.

"Party registration is a lengthy process because of the required accounting audit for the dissolved party," she said.

Thai Rak Thai Party acting leader Chaturon Chaisang said earlier he had a contingency plan to form a new party if the former ruling party is found to have committed electoral fraud by the Constitution Tribunal next week.

Sodsri said any parties disbanded by a court order were obliged to undergo an audit of their financial records before being allowed to register a new party under a new name.

She said past judicial rulings showed that a new party could not re-use the name of a party disbanded by a court order.

She also pointed out that executives of a dissolved party would face an obstacle in forming or merging with a new party due to two junta announcements banning party activities.

So long as the two announcements remain in effect, party executives would find it impossible to "party hop", she said.