Thai Supreme Court drops charge against former EC commissioners

[webfact]

Supreme Court drops charge against former EC commissioners
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Supreme Court Thursday dropped the lawsuit against former Election Commission chairman Wassana Permlarp and two other former EC commissioners, who were accused of unlawfully organising the 2006 by-elections.

The Supreme Court reasoned that Democrat MP Thaworn Senniem had no jurisdiction right to sue Wassana and the three former EC members as he is not a directly damaged person.

Wassana and two other former EC members were earlier sentenced to four years in jail by lower courts and had their election rights revoked for ten years. One of them has died so the court dropped the suit against him.

Thaworn alleged that Wassana and other EC members violated the 1998 EC Act by allowing failed candidates to re-contest by-elections is some constituencies on April 23 2006.

The by-elections were held after Pheu Thai candidates, who had no contestants in the preceding general election, failed to earn up to 20 per cent of votes from eligible voters. The general election was boycotted by the Democrat. With the rival candidates in the by-elections, Pheu Thai candidates could avoid the 20-per-cent vote-getting requirement rule.

Earlier, the Criminal Court sentenced Wassana and two other EC members to four years in jail and the Appeals Court upheld the ruling. But the Supreme Court disagreed with the ruling on ground that Thaworn was not an affected party as the Democrat did not contest the election in the first place.

-- The Nation 2013-06-13

[whybother]

The Supreme Court reasoned that Democrat MP Thaworn Senniem had no jurisdiction right to sue Wassana and the three former EC members as he is not a directly damaged person.

Thaworn alleged that Wassana and other EC members violated the 1998 EC Act by allowing failed candidates to re-contest by-elections is some constituencies on April 23 2006.

So they're not saying that the EC didn't violate the EC Act, they're just saying that Thaworn couldn't sue them for it.

[whybother]

The by-elections were held after Pheu Thai candidates, who had no contestants in the preceding general election, failed to earn up to 20 per cent of votes from eligible voters. The general election was boycotted by the Democrat. With the rival candidates in the by-elections, Pheu Thai candidates could avoid the 20-per-cent vote-getting requirement rule.

I didn't realise Pheu Thai ran candidates in the 2006 election.

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