• 
• 

Published on September 12, 2007

The Election Commis-sion made a unanimous decision yesterday not to sign an agreement with the European Union on electoral observers.

"Thailand welcomes all foreign observers but will not sign an MoU [memorandum of understanding] on the matter," EC chairman Apichart Sukhag-ganond said.

"We have nothing to hide but we don't need international recognition or an endorsement for our election," he told reporters.

Apichart said negotiations on the MoU terms would cease and that he would officially notify the EU of the commission's decision within the next few days.

"The Election Commission is confident it can supervise a free and fair election and meet the international standard on voting," he said.

The EU or any country could dispatch observers to check on the polls, provided they abided by Thai laws. The commission believed the decision would not jeopardise ties with Europe, as the EU representative in Bang-kok had said previously Thailand had the right to make any decision on the matter, he said.

The EU previously insisted the Kingdom would have to sign an MoU to formally allow a team of European observers to monitor the general election, scheduled for December 23.

The EU's offer to monitor the election in Thailand was widely opposed by authorities, members of National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and pro-junta politicians on the grounds it appeared to be an intervention into local domestic affairs.

Some members of the NLA even said the MoU could be deemed to be a treaty that needed public hearings and consent of the Assembly before it was signing, to be in accordance with the 2007 Constitution.

Some officials, including the junta chief Sonthi Boonyarat-glin, wondered if deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was behind the EU move.

Only the People Power Party, the new home for the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, agreed to have international observers, as they feared the junta may want to manipulate the election to favour pro-junta parties.

Praphan Naikowit, an EC member, said the agency actually welcomed EU observers, but felt signing a formal document for such was against Thai tradition.

The Nation