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Published on February 28, 2008

The Election Commission received a bomb hoax after Tuesday's ruling disqualifying House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat, its secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiygarn said yesterday.

"The commission has asked police to strengthen security as a precaution," he said.

Chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said legal proceedings against Yongyuth would proceed as planned. He shrugged off fears of reprisals.

People Power Party secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee said it viewed the electoral fraud charges involving Yongyuth as personal and hoped the proceedings would be in accordance with judicial and democratic principles.

"It is too early for speculation whether the case involving Yongyuth will trigger a judicial review for the disbanding of People Power," he said.

Meanwhile, Election Commission member Somchai Juengprasert said he believed Yongyuth had paid political canvassers, but he wanted the charges revised to fit the crime.

Somchai was the only dissenting opinion in Tuesday's ruling to try Yongyuth for electoral fraud. He said Yongyuth should not be prosecuted for vote-buying, an offence under election laws, but for bribing state officials, a breach of the Criminal Code.

In the majority, commissioners found Yongyuth had a case to answer for vote-buying in Chiang Rai as a party-list candidate of the People Power Party in Zone 1, covering the upper North region.

The majority comprised Apichart Sukhag-ganond, Prapun Naigowit and Sumeth Ubanisakorn.

Sodsri Satayathum abstained on grounds that two investigative reports into campaign violations involving Yongyuth should have been combined before the commission ruled on the matter.

The majority, including Somchai, disagreed and decided to proceed without waiting for the completion of another report relating to the accusations filed by General Somjet Boonthanom, head of the Secretariat of the Council for National Security.

In the report prepared by the Suvit Theerapong panel, Yongyuth was charged with paying nine kamnan and village headmen for votes.

Somchai had no doubt Yongyuth distributed money to local officials, seen as his loyal canvassers.

"I think these officials definitely broke the law because they failed to maintain political neutrality, but I don't view Yongyuth's payments as vote-buying. They are bribes, which is a more serious offence," he said.

He argued the payments were made before Yongyuth registered his candidacy, therefore it was a legal grey area whether election laws were applicable in this case. He said, therefore, charges against Yongyuth should be under the Criminal Code.

The Nation