By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATION will likely address scandals surrounding last year’s senatorial elections as a special lawsuit allegedly involving unlawful conspiracy and money-laundering plots, according to partisan sources.
The Committee on Special Lawsuits of the DSI, a government agency under direct control of Justice Minister Thavi Sodsong, is scheduled to convene tomorrow (Feb.25) with the likelihood of handling the electoral rigging, bloc-voting scandals among as many as 138 winning contestants among a total of 200 senators as a special lawsuit with focus on alleged conspiracy and money-laundering charges, among other crimes, the partisan sources said.
The DSI committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, is inclined to give the green light for the DSI to go ahead with the planned, in-depth investigation into the electoral fraud charges in regard to conspiracy and money-laundering plots which could possibly involve as many as 138 senators, most of whom are invariably viewed as personally staunch or clandestinely connected to de facto Bhumjaithai boss Newin Chidchob.
Phumtham is largely known as a right-hand man for Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s father/de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra.
The DSI would have a few months’ time from now to delve into the alleged, disreputable shenanigans which landed those winning senatorial candidates the questionable victories earlier formally ratified by the Election Commission.
Nevertheless, the Election Commission had dismissed petitions filed by some of those defeated in the complicated, triple-tiered senatorial races in desperate pursuit of an investigation by the polling agency.
If found guilty as charged by the DSI, those senior lawmakers could possibly be immediately suspended from duty and have their assets seized, pending court trials and rulings, and could possibly be finally deprived of their legislative status, thus rendering re-elections to find others in their place.
The suspected senators would likely be accused of involvement in the electoral rigging and bloc-voting plots to the extent that they had been evidently given pads of scripts from unnamed elements allegedly associated with the Bhumjaithai to vote for certain candidates in last year’s unprecedented, complicated elections ranging from district and provincial to national levels.
Without personally knowing one another ahead of the elections, many of those suspected senators had been evidently brought to stay at the same hotels where they had feasted and convened altogether on the outskirts of Bangkok prior to the national-level race.
In the meantime, Thaksin and Newin have not yet met with each other supposedly to bury the hatchet over any unresolved discrepancies between the Pheu Thai, core of the current coalition, and the Bhumjaithai, the second largest coalition partner whilst the leaders and secretaries-general of all coalition partners are scheduled to hold a dinner talk tomorrow.
CAPTION:
Senatorial elections taking place last year. Top photo: Naewna, Front Page photo: Thai Rath
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