Election results set for Tuesday

[webfact]

Election results set for Tuesday

By THE NATION

 

File photto

 

PARTY-LIST MPS TO BE ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING DAY; CHARTER COURT TO HEAR CASE AGAINST MP ELECTION LAW

 

THE ELECTION Commission (EC) will announce the final election results next Tuesday, a day after the Royal Coronation ceremony, amid the current political turbulence heightened by lawsuits and the uncertainty over allocation of MP seats.

 

The agency deputy secretary-general Nat Laosisavakul yesterday said the long-awaited poll results would be officially announced on two separate days.

 

The Constitution demands that the EC endorse the constituency MPs first before proceeding to determine the number of party-list MPs each party would have, he explained.

 

Hence, the agency would next Tuesday endorse the winners of at least 95 per cent of the 350 constituencies. The 150 successful party-list MPs, meanwhile, will be announced on the following day, he said.

 

The schedule will meet the deadline imposed by the Constitution, which stipulates the election must be completed within 150 days of the electoral laws taking effect.

 

However, the debate over the calculation of party-list seats continues. While political observers and stakeholders are protesting against the calculation method proposed to be used by the EC, the agency has stood its ground, insisting the formula has been endorsed by the original law drafters.

 

Claims of a contradiction between the Constitution and the MP Election law has resulted in the current controversy.

 

The dispute over calculation was taken to the Constitutional Court by the Ombudsman, and the court yesterday agreed to hear the case and rule whether the MP Election law violated the Constitution. 

 

The verdict, the court said, would be delivered next Wednesday – the same day the EC would announce its allocation of party-list seats.

 

The EC deputy secretary-general said the agency would not wait until the Constitutional Court gave a judgement. The endorsement had to be made on Wednesday, following the constitutional timeframe, he explained.

 

Meanwhile, post-election scrutiny continues, though the election results are set to be announced in less than a week. 

 

The law has left room for the authority to clear these up, with the stipulation allowing the official announcement of 95 per cent of results. Re-runs of elections and recounts in embattled constituencies will take place after the announcement.

 

Chiang Mai, for instance, will have a constituency election re-run on May 26. The EC decided on a re-run and that date after the winning candidate in the March 24 poll, Suraphol Kiatchaiyakorn from Pheu Thai Party, was disqualified for giving a cash gift to a temple – an act the EC said was prohibited under the law.

 

Suraphol will be banned from running in elections for one year. Other candidates running in the March 24 election are re-contesting in the constituency and no registration for new candidates will be opened, according to the poll agency.

 

Meanwhile, in a Nakhon Pathom constituency where a recount last week had become confusing, a re-run was a possibility.

 

Future Forward candidate Savika Limpasuwanna yesterday lodged a complaint with the poll authority in Nakhon Pathom to consider a re-election in the constituency, citing inconsistency in the counting.

 

Savika had come second in the first count, 147 votes behind a Democrat candidate. In recount, she did not win but the difference was down to 62 votes.

 

She said irregularities had occurred during the counting and recounting and the inconsistent numbers also make the outcome unacceptable. 

 

Savika demanded that the agency arrange a new election to ensure fairness and transparency, while the Nakhon Pathom case has ignited doubt about the country-wide poll.

 

In a related development, the EC also disqualified 11 candidates from several political parties, citing they were either members of two parties or members of the party they represented for less than 90 days.

 

Four candidates were from Palang Rak Thai, two from Palang Chatthai and one each from Palang Puangchon Thai, Prachatham Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, Chatpatta and Ruamjai Thai, according to the EC.

 

None of them was successful in the March 24 general election and so no re-elections were deemed necessary, but the votes gained by them would be invalidated and would not be included in the party-list seat calculation.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30368781

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-03

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[smedly]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Election results set for Tuesday

simple question

 

how can you trust election results when those in power own everyone

 

Thailand has in the past  had independent international checks 

 

what happened

[Thailand]

Any wild guesses who will be in power after Wednesday?

 

Sorry, just being sarcastic, we knew even before the "election" was announced.

[a977]

Can't have the results announced before the coronation the result might have Pinocchio throw a hissy fit if he wasn't allowed front and centre photo op. After all isn't this what it's been about all along? 

[Eligius]

Election 'results' (we know already who will be the winner, anyway) to be announced on Tuesday and Wednesday - and then the furious reaction of the public will finally kick off (in relatively small numbers over the ensuing months) ...

 

No way could any turmoil and 'confusion' (which the junta have of course healed and banished) ever begin again!

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Eligius

[Oziex1]

The EC will have learned to count by then? 

[nong38]

The EC should indeed be an independent body and seen to be by the public, is that the case? Can anything here be seen to be free of Government interference or influence? Just asking.

[Cadbury]

so after some creative post election adjustments, recounts, disqualifications and last minute tweaking the junta has given the nod to the EC to announce the results.

[Eligius]

28 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

so after some creative post election adjustments, recounts, disqualifications and last minute tweaking the junta has given the nod to the EC to announce the results.

Yes, Cadbury - correct (above).

Even a little baby, mewling and squawking in its mother's arms, knows that the fix is in!

[SABloke]

So let's be "clear" about this:

 

• The constituency MP's will be announced on the 7th of May.
• The court will decide if the party-list calculation method is legal and announce its findings on the 8th.
• The party list MP's will be announced on the 8th. (Regardless of whether the calculation is legal or not, because they legally have to finish the election within the 150 day time frame.
• More voting will take place on the 26th of May - just a tad after the 150 days.

 

Clear as mud ????

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by SABloke

[Dumbastheycome]

Same as a weather warning : High potential for a  flood.....of tears.

[peter14]

I fear civil war if Prayut remains....  

[Eric Loh]

3 minutes ago, peter14 said:

I fear civil war if Prayut remains....  

Rumoured that he wouldn't remain together with the other obnoxious P. 

[Eligius]

22 minutes ago, peter14 said:

I fear civil war if Prayut remains....  

I don't see enough simmering fury for that, Peter14 (above). Generally, most Thais I know are far from incandescent with outrage at what is going on (which is not to say that they necessarily like or approve it).

But some Thais are very angry indeed - and so when the time comes, there WILL be a number of brave rebellious souls (a tiny minority of the overall population) who will publicly dissent and who will publicly be dealt with. It won't be pretty (or just) ...

 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Eligius

[Fex Bluse]

23 minutes ago, peter14 said:

I fear civil war if Prayut remains....  

Don't make me laugh. Thailand doesnt have the stomach for that sacrifice. This is, after all, the land of

 

'maibenrai' 

 

They care mostly about important things like the price of somtom and whether they are up-to-date with the latest fashion. 

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The EC deputy secretary-general said the agency would not wait until the Constitutional Court gave a judgement. The endorsement had to be made on Wednesday, following the constitutional timeframe

The EC decides which parts of the Constitution it will honor.

It will also call the election results even though there will be redo elections at the end of  May and MP seats being legally contested.

The EC decides whose vote is important and who's not.

The EC is truly 'independent' ... from the Thai electorate.

[yellowboat]

A prediction of green wet blankets will win further stymieing Thailand's future, what future, development.  It was a fun country while it lasted.  

[Dumbastheycome]

43 minutes ago, Eligius said:

I don't see enough simmering fury for that, Peter14 (above). Generally, most Thais I know are far from incandescent with outrage at what is going on (which is not to say that they necessarily like or approve it).

But some Thais are very angry indeed - and so when the time comes, there WILL be a number of brave rebellious souls (a tiny minority of the overall population) who will publicly dissent and who will publicly be dealt with. It won't be pretty (or just) ...

 

 

Agreed. There  will be some martyrs "to the cause"  without any effective change in outcome. At least  not this time around so long as there is no return to riots.

It is a  shame that the orchestration could not tolerate an alternative style of interpretation by the conductor.

[Eligius]

2 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Agreed. There  will be some martyrs "to the cause"  without any effective change in outcome. At least  not this time around so long as there is no return to riots.

It is a  shame that the orchestration could not tolerate an alternative style of interpretation by the conductor.

One of the cleverest (and most pertinent) posts I've seen in a long while (above)!

[spidermike007]

It is quite obvious by this delay that the people spoke, and the army got crushed. So, how will they cover that up? How will they steal the power they so desperately want?

[Eric Loh]

3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

It is quite obvious by this delay that the people spoke, and the army got crushed. So, how will they cover that up? How will they steal the power they so desperately want?

A silent coup will upset the apple cart but does nothing to improve the democratic future. 

[Donutz]

The cherry picking of articles and laws by the EC, the cherry picking of how and to who to apply those. The lack of any real transparency,  the many discounts and announcement made in error,  the delays... we already know who they will announce as winner. These elections... just... when will it be enough? The only solution seems a mass uprising, not by the tens of thousands but by the millions. 

[DrTuner]

So they are betting on Thais being too hungover not to climb the barricades on that day? Fear not, the placid population ain't going to do anything even if you give all seats to Prayuth just for the hell of it.

[Kaopad999]

If the Junta was really serious about a democratic vote, then he would never have nominated himself as a candidate in the first place. 

[MaxLee]

8 hours ago, smedly said:

simple question

 

how can you trust election results when those in power own everyone

 

Thailand has in the past  had independent international checks 

 

what happened

A coup

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, peter14 said:

I fear civil war if Prayut remains....  

 

Then you need to give up whatever it is your imbibing.

 

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

It is quite obvious by this delay that the people spoke, and the army got crushed. So, how will they cover that up? How will they steal the power they so desperately want?

 

Not according to the initial results it wasn't. The army, polling the highest number of votes, certainly didn't get crushed. FFP did fantastic for a new party and the Shins polled about half what they did before. The Dems got crushed.

 

What's been the hold up is errors, ineffective inefficient processes. lack of responsibility and accountability etc etc and the apparent lack of an agreed way to calculate the dinosaur party list seats.

 

Throw in the usual skulduggery, appeals to lawsuits and demands for this that and the other and you are where you are.

[connda]

[Wilsonandson]

And the winner is .....

[ubon farang]

Latest odds who retain power  Government 5/4    Opposition 500-1 and i am being generous to the opposition