• 
• 

Published on March 19, 2008

The Election Commission (EC) yesterday hit a legal snag and postponed its decision on the dissolution of the Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya parties.

The EC assigned a legal panel headed by Supol Yutithada to interpret Articles 237 and 103 of the Constitution organic law as to whether the case merits a charge of party dissolution when a party executive commits fraud without the knowledge of other executives. Supol was instructed to provide legal recommendations on the issue within 15 days.

An EC fact-finding panel headed by Bunthan Dokthaisong submitted the investigation results to EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond yesterday.

The panel was supposed to recommend to the EC whether there were grounds to dissolve the Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya parties after their executives committed electoral fraud and were disqualified.

Under the new law, political parties are accountable for their executives' misconduct.

EC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiygarn said the fact-finding panel recommended the EC could not take recourse over the two Articles in the case. The law discussed only the issue of party executives acknowledging electoral fraud or failing to take action against electoral fraud. It was not about party executives themselves committing an electoral offence.

Suthiphon said the EC might not agree with the recommendations from the Bunthan panel once it had received a legal interpretation of the law from legal advisers.

He said the EC's decision on Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya could not be used as a norm for the dissolution of the People Power Party, because they were different in detail.

Meanwhile, Chart Thai is slated on Friday to convene its annual convention and scale down the executive board in a bid to run a tighter ship after a party executive was disqualified for vote buying in the general election.

The convention will be chaired by party leader Banharn Silapa-archa at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

Banharn will propose a new streamlined executive board of 19 members, down from 43. The new board will include a party leader, four deputies, a party secretary-general, a registrar, a treasurer and a spokesman.

ATTHAYUTH BUTRSRIPOOM

THE NATION