By Thai Newsroom Reporters
A GROUP OF OUTVOTED SENATORIAL contestants today (June 28) filed a complaint over vote-rigging and other electoral wrongdoing allegations, calling on the Election Commission to immediately investigate.
The alleged wrongdoings on the part of “puppet” senatorial candidates in Wednesday’s national or final stage of the complicated, triple-tiered election involved the purposely falsification of any of the 20 given categories of professions which they do not practically pursue for a living and preplanned bloc-vote riggings.
Former assistant police chief/outvoted contestant Kamrob Panyakaeo said he had found a piece of paper in a toilet at a hotel on the northern outskirts of Bangkok containing a list of candidates for the “puppet” candidates to pick in Wednesday’s national tier of the senatorial election.
Kamrob insisted that the dropped paper be a piece of evidence of the alleged bloc-vote rigging plot for those contenders hired by or hiddenly associated with a political party.
A dozen hotels in the neighbourhood of Muang Thong Thani trade exhibition and convention centre where the national tier of the senatorial election was held had been allegedly used by political wheeler-dealers to accommodate their “puppet” contestants and host banquets prevailed by hush-hush talks about payoffs in cash and vote-rigging scams.
Kamrob said there would be many pieces of paper clandestinely handed out to those “puppet” contestants with the same list of candidates to vote in the final stage of the election.
Former Pheu Thai MP/former Ruam Thai Sang Chart member Kusumalvati Sirikomut who was defeated in the senatorial contests alleged that a number of “puppet” candidates had falsely claimed to be attached to the categories without truthfully being so.
For instance, she said, a villager in charge of publicity via a village-based news broadcasting tower had run for senator in the mass media category, a former graduate of Por 4 elementary-level education had contested in the science, technology and communication category and a village headman-cum-vendor had run in the law and judicial procedure category.
Kusumalvati who was outvoted in the women category doubted that Election Commission Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee is holding the senatorial race in neutral and transparent manner, given the fact that he is a Buriram native who used to work as a staffer for the late House speaker Chai Chidchob, father of de facto Bhumjaithai boss Newin Chidchob.
Buriram is the largest Bhumjaithai stronghold and northeastern home province of the de facto party boss.
The defeated contenders’ concerted move toward the electoral rigging charges apparently followed allegations that Newin’s camp had hiddenly masterminded many of the total 200 senators-designate, all of whom are scheduled for July 3 to be officially ratified by the polling agency.
Sawaeng has earlier confirmed that some of the senators-designate could possibly have their legislative duties suspended by court at a later date if evidently found to have breached the election law and relevant rules.
CAPTION:
Vote-counting during the triple-tiered senatorial election. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Naewna
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