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Published on January 19, 2008

The members made their move in order to avoid disputes about the legitimacy of applying for senatorial posts while being NLA members.

Former NLA member Tuang Antachai, who has applied for senatorial election, argued against Somkid Lertpaitoon, dean of Thammasat University's Faculty of Law, who had stated that NLA members did not have the right to run in the senatorial election in accordance with Article 115 of the Constitution; Tuang argued that the transitory provision of Article 294 (3) stipulated that Article 115 could not be enforced with NLA members.

"We do not want any hassles later, so we just left our posts to run in the senatorial election,'' he said.

Former NLA member Satien Settasit said he had consulted with NLA chairman Meechai Ruchuphan, who agreed that all NLA members could run in the elections. Meechai had asked advice from the Election Commission and been told it would be better to resign before applying for senatorial election to avoid any subsequent legal wrangling.

Prapasri Osathanon

The Nation