EC eases campaign restrictions

EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said the EC made its best to make the directives practical for all parties.

Under the amended directives, candidates will enable to hold musical parades or dances, which they normally do when launching their campaigns.

Political parties could make their own stages rather than having to use the ones set by the EC, Apichart said.

Candidates who were actors or actresses could work as normal without having to quit the job, he said. However, they should not act or say anything to make viewers perceive they were running election campaigns, he said. 

The directive which banned the broadcasting media from inviting candidates to their programmes were lifted, he said.

EC commissioner Sodsri Sattayatham, who opposed the amendment of the directives, did not attend the meeting. Apichart, however, said the decision reached Tuesday was legitimate, as the EC meeting had a quorum of four commissioners.

The Nation