• 
• 

Published on November 21, 2007

Election Commission chairman Apichart Sukhagganond yesterday warned the 111 banned party executives to consider carefully what could happen to their new parties if they insist on making campaign speeches.

"Each executive can decide whether to heed the EC's ruling," he said, but it had clearly stated why the banned executives could not get involved in campaigning.

The EC was not infringing on civil rights, Apichart said, just describing how it would enforce the election law and the sentence handed down to the banned executives.

Meanwhile the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it was willing to look into the complaints of the 111 banned Thai Rak Thai Party executives if they file a case.

NHRC chairman Saneh Chamarik said the commission had accepted 80-90 per cent of the petitions it had obtained on the grounds that the complainants should get the benefit of the doubt.

He said if any petitions from banned TRT executives were accepted, the commission would have to reach a conclusion before the general election.

He said the NHRC would not interfere with official rulings from the EC. "The petition filed with the commission involves the EC's recommendation," he said.

Saneh was speaking after Sutham Saengpratoom and Adisorn Piengket, two of the banned executives, submitted petitions against last Friday's recommendation by the EC prohibiting banned executives from campaigning.

Chaturon Chaisang has said he also planned to petition the NHRC.

"If petitioned, the NHRC is obliged to conduct a review after checking whether the complaint is under a judicial review or related to a verdict," Saneh said.

The NHRC would have to set up a fact-finding committee to determine if there was any human-rights violations. It might have to ask the five election commissioners to testify, he said.

Another banned executive, Sutham Saengpratoom, said he would organise a rally on Friday at Lumpini Park to oppose the EC ruling.

Apichart said the EC's ruling did not create an unfair situation for the parties. The EC, he said, was a neutral body, and the banned executives had not been shut out of all political activities, only those reserved for current executives.

Chaturon Chaisang was free to lead a rally on Friday against the ruling, but he should be careful not to defame the EC or make campaign speeches to support the People Power Party, Apichart said.

PM's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan urged the banned party executives to comply with the electoral rules rather than risk jeopardising their new parties by getting involved in campaign activities.

"Anyone acting in defiance of the Election Commission will have to risk the consequences," he said, alluding to a possible disqualification of election candidates and voting results. The EC was the enforcer of election laws and banned executives should heed its opinion on the matter, he said.

While the banned executives were entitled to seek a judicial review to overrule the EC, the parties and candidates would be put in a precarious position during the litigation, he said.

The parties and candidates should do the campaigning on their own while the banned executives try to overturn the EC ruling via judicial review, he said.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the issue should be resolved before the casting of ballots in order to avoid legal wrangling on the election outcome.

The Nation