By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE ELECTION COMMISSION was today (July 1) pressed to indefinitely delay an official ratification of all 200 senators-designate, scheduled for upcoming Wednesday, otherwise a duty-negligence lawsuit would be filed in court against the polling agency.
Kamrob Panyakaeo, an outvoted senatorial contestant, called on the Election Commission to not ratify the 200 senators-designate and 100 others in reserve pending sought-after investigations into allegations of preplanned bloc-vote riggings and other irregularities on the part of 111 of the total winning candidates.
Kamrob said he is a former assistant police chief who has collected hard evidence to accuse many “puppet” contestants of voting for the candidates specified on a list handed out in pieces of paper from unnamed political wheeler-dealers during hush-hush meetings at hotels on Bangkok’s northern outskirts prior to last Wednesday’s national or final stage of the senatorial election.
He said those pieces of evidence purportedly involving the alleged bloc-vote riggings among “puppet” senatorial candidates were delivered to the Election Commission and insisted that the polling agency immediately take action to bring all suspected contestants to justice.
A few other outvoted contenders even called on the polling agency to declare the entire senatorial election “null and void”, accusing many of the “puppet” candidates of having falsely claimed to be attached to any of the 20 given categories of professions without truthfully, regularly being so.
The duty-negligence case would certainly be filed to the Supreme Court against the Election Commission if the agency failed to withhold the planned ratification of all 200 senators-designate and investigate the alleged wrongdoings, the former assistant police chief said.
As many as half the total 200 senators-designate are alleged to have performed as “puppet” candidates under influence of the Bhumjaithai, the second coalition partner under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob, in spite of the election law which prohibits any candidates from being either directly or indirectly associated with a political party.
Of those “puppet” contestants allegedly associated with the Bhumjaithai, 14 have contested in Buriram and been finally elected, according to a few defeated candidates running in the northeastern province. Buriram is the biggest Bhumjaithai stronghold and home province of the party’s de facto boss.
However, Election Commission Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee has earlier confirmed all 200 senators-designate and 100 others in reserve will certainly be officially ratified by the polling agency as scheduled upcoming Wednesday though, he said, some could possibly be suspended by court from performing their legislative duties at a later date if evidently found to have breached the election law.
CAPTION:
Kamrob Panyakaeo talking to reporters after submitting evidence of alleged bloc-vote rigging to the Election Commission today, July 1, 2024. Top photo: PPTV HD 36, Front Page photo: MNG Online
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