EDITORIALS I : EC needs to sharpen its teeth

Published on Nov 10, 2004

The poll watchdog must shake off lethargic inaction and take a more proactive role



The Thaksin administration’s extravagant self-promotion campaign at Muang Thong Thani’s Impact Arena, held at taxpayer expense, will have attracted between 600,000 and 700,000 people by the time it draws to a close this evening. There is little doubt that the Thai Rak Thai party stands to gain tremendously from what is widely seen as an early kick-off to an election campaign. Visitors to this five-day “exhibition” showcasing the government’s many “achievements” have been showered with hand-outs, special discounts on public services and privileges. Many of the visitors are known to have been paid to attend the fair, paid for by government agencies out of their regular budgets. This self-promotion campaign, held just a couple of months before the Thai Rak Thai-led government’s term ends early next January, will clearly benefit Thai Rak Thai in the upcoming general election that must be held no later than the first quarter of next year.

Opposition parties are questioning the propriety - not to mention the legality - of the Thaksin administration’s squandering of public money to garner free publicity that will undoubtedly influence the decision of countless voters to cast their ballot in favour of Thai Rak Thai when they enter the polling booth in the not-too-distant future.

What does the Election Commission (EC), that supposedly independent watchdog organisation tasked with organising a free and fair election, have to say about this costly bash?

EC chairman Wassana Permlarp voiced his opinion that as long as no Royal decree has been issued fixing the date for the national election, no legal action could be taken against any political party. According to Wassana’s line of reasoning, it was impossible for any political party or candidate to benefit in the next general election from this popularity-boosting campaign paid for by taxpayers.

Wassana pointed out that this blatant self-promotion of the government is organised by the Thaksin government and that there is no evidence of the Thai Rak Thai party itself taking undue credit for the government’s achievements.

Never mind the fact that the Thaksin administration and the opposition had earlier agreed to draw up legislation banning any form of self-promotion by an incumbent government within the 60-day period prior to the end of a four-year term. The proposed legislation will likely lapse, because there is not enough time left for deliberation of the bill before the current parliazmentary session ends later this month.

Perhaps it is true that no law has been broken - at least not any of our current loophole-riddled electoral laws - but the least that members of the public should be able to expect from the EC is that the independent agency act more proactively and take the initiative in amending, improving and refining the rules, in order to keep pace with stratagems or dirty tricks that deviously inventive political parties might use to gain unfair advantage over their opponents. The EC may not have acted with outright favouritism towards the ruling political party, but its inaction and obvious lack of mental suppleness is cause for concern.