Thailand's Election Commission to Consider 30 Fraud ChargesThe Election Commission of Thailand will summon around 30 candidates in the general election earlier this month to counter election fraud charges Tuesday.The candidates' cases would be considered by the judicial council if the panel decided to disqualify them, said Sawat Chotipanich, commissioner in charge of investigating poll frauds, was quoted as saying by the Thai News Agency. He said names of election candidates found guilty of vote- rigging allegations would not be disclosed until the endorsement of victorious candidates of all 500 members of House of Representative was declared in order to prevent turmoil. The decision on whether to give red cards or yellow cards to the candidates would be made concurrently. Sawat said he remained confident of finalizing consideration of whether to charge any of 500 candidates on election frauds within 30 days though a lot of complaints had been lodged with the panel. Around 2,000 people rallying outside the Election Commission's office Monday to protest vote counting instigated violence by setting ablaze a coffin with a banner attacking the commission for unfair treatment. More than 300 anti-riot police were deployed to prevent possible chaos since some protesters appeared drunk and resisted the police's attempt to ease the tension. Finally the protesters agreed to leave after they were given an explanation by Sathaporn Santisuk, deputy secretary-general of the Central Election Commission, on what the panel was trying to do to ensure the justice prevails in the election. Under Thailand's 1997 Constitution, the Election Commission, an independent organization, has the power to disqualify a candidate and call a re-vote in the constituency if finding convincing evidence that the election or voting did not proceed in an honest and fair manner. |
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