Thai Election Commission bewildered by Democrat MPs’ mass resignation

[webfact]

Election Commission bewildered by Democrat MPs’ mass resignation
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, Dec 9 – Thailand's Election Commission (EC) will meet today on organising by-elections nationwide following an announcement by Democrat MPs to resign en masse, effective yesterday.

EC members will also discuss possibly extending by-election registrations in Chumphon, Trang and Surat Thani after not a single candidate applied to run in the poll, originally set for December 22.

The by-elections were initially scheduled after nine Democrat MPs including anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban resigned from the House of Representatives on November 8.

EC member Prapan Naigowit said the law requires a by-election in 45 days after a parliamentary seat in the Lower House is vacant.

He said the Election Law subjects the EC to hold by-elections despite the Democrat MPs’ mass resignations yesterday.

Without Democrat MPs, the number of representatives in the Lower House is more than half and the House remains in existence unless an official announcement is made to dissolve the House, he clarified.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said party MPs voted unanimously to resign en masse to pressure Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to dissolve the House to pave the way for a national reform in accord with the Constitution.

He said the prime minister, the government and the ruling Pheu Thai Party have never shown their responsibilities or accountability for damages in the country.

They challenged the court’s power and continued trying to commit additional offences through parliamentary mechanism, said Mr Abhisit.

The resigned Democrats immediately went on stages at three separate rally sites, organised by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, at the Government Complex, Democracy Monument and Finance Ministry last night, and vowed to join today’s multi-pronged march on Bangkok’s streets to the Government House. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-12-09

[ramrod711]

It seems rather pointless to have by-elections in 45 days and a general election in 60 days.

[Spare]

Is it just me? The guy in the photo looks like Thaksin. Maybe his brother?

[Spartakos]

Is there an election commission in Thailand ? I could swear no such commission existed in LOS by the lack of their direct input in running proper elections.

Edited December 9, 2013 by Spartakos

[Halion]

If this country is genuinely interested in tackling corruption in Thailand then the first order of business should be to rescind the immunity from prosecution granted to sitting members. Why should an MP be granted such immunity. They should in fact be held to a higher standard rather than be given such immunity. Any serving politician should be subject to the same laws as the people who voted for them and should they be guilty of malfeasance they should be dealt with under the full weight of the law swiftly and harshly for betraying the trust of the office they hold. This would go a long way in reducing the sticky fingered nature of Thai political office.

[anon210]

If this country is genuinely interested in tackling corruption in Thailand then the first order of business should be to rescind the immunity from prosecution granted to sitting members. Why should an MP be granted such immunity. They should in fact be held to a higher standard rather than be given such immunity. Any serving politician should be subject to the same laws as the people who voted for them and should they be guilty of malfeasance they should be dealt with under the full weight of the law swiftly and harshly for betraying the trust of the office they hold. This would go a long way in reducing the sticky fingered nature of Thai political office.

Immunity from prosecution, historically hails from the necessity to protect the representatives from the reprisals of the sovereign. Especially, in a country as undemocratic as Thailand, without a true independent and objective justice, I believe it is a true requirement.

Now, this being said, immunity always goes together with a possibility to have such immunity revoked by your peers. This happens pretty easily in true democracies, when the crime is obvious; Much less easy to enforce in a banana republic like Thailand.

[fab4]

It seems rather pointless to have by-elections in 45 days and a general election in 60 days.

It may seem pointless to you but that is what the law is for and it says by elections must be held within 45 days once a MP position is vacated (however bizarrely).

It's laws like that that the dems seem to think they are the only ones to follow when in reality the dems just use laws to suit their particular plans.

[JRSoul]

It seems rather pointless to have by-elections in 45 days and a general election in 60 days.

It may seem pointless to you but that is what the law is for and it says by elections must be held within 45 days once a MP position is vacated (however bizarrely).

It's laws like that that the dems seem to think they are the only ones to follow when in reality the dems just use laws to suit their particular plans.

So you can see the logical reason to hold a by-election for a dissolved house? Given that, it makes sense to hold elections for the 3 electorates without candidates, as nobody is going to be appointed.

It would seem clear that this situation has not been anticipated in electoral law. It would seem only logical to delay the by-elections by 15 days or whatever is required to match the general election date. The law can be an ass, and the donkeys fully support it.

[whybother]

I would say that this article was published by MCOT before Yingluck had dissolved parliament (if she actually has yet).

[kirk0233]

Why have an election? Just ask the mob what they want. If they don't like what the mob does another mob can form to appoint someone else.

[wwest5829]

If this country is genuinely interested in tackling corruption in Thailand then the first order of business should be to rescind the immunity from prosecution granted to sitting members. Why should an MP be granted such immunity. They should in fact be held to a higher standard rather than be given such immunity. Any serving politician should be subject to the same laws as the people who voted for them and should they be guilty of malfeasance they should be dealt with under the full weight of the law swiftly and harshly for betraying the trust of the office they hold. This would go a long way in reducing the sticky fingered nature of Thai political office.

While this sounds right, how many charges against the opposition of either party do we see being filed? It appears that it is a national political hobby already. No need to encourage.

[JRSoul]

If this country is genuinely interested in tackling corruption in Thailand then the first order of business should be to rescind the immunity from prosecution granted to sitting members. Why should an MP be granted such immunity. They should in fact be held to a higher standard rather than be given such immunity. Any serving politician should be subject to the same laws as the people who voted for them and should they be guilty of malfeasance they should be dealt with under the full weight of the law swiftly and harshly for betraying the trust of the office they hold. This would go a long way in reducing the sticky fingered nature of Thai political office.

While this sounds right, how many charges against the opposition of either party do we see being filed? It appears that it is a national political hobby already. No need to encourage.

Easily overcome. When an MP is forced to stand down to face court, he is paired with an opponent who is barred from voting until the outcome is decided. As there is a court for political office holders, all cases should be referred to it and heard expeditiously.

Perhaps freemindxs could inform us when the last criminal charges were brought against MPs as reprisals from the sovereign.

[Spare]

May the party who win the least seats be appointed PM.

Everyone is happy and can go home.

[stickyrice2000]

That's right. Why have an election? Just let Mr. Suthep assigned the people's council to manage the country. He is almighty and can dictate what he wants for Thai people. I want to see how much they handle it with clean slate. A person can say all he wants, but the reality is not easy as it seems.

[Stradavarius37]

This article makes no mention of the house being dissolved - information contained in it was out of date even as it was being posted this afternoon. House was dissolved this morning.

[fab4]

It seems rather pointless to have by-elections in 45 days and a general election in 60 days.

It may seem pointless to you but that is what the law is for and it says by elections must be held within 45 days once a MP position is vacated (however bizarrely).

It's laws like that that the dems seem to think they are the only ones to follow when in reality the dems just use laws to suit their particular plans.

So you can see the logical reason to hold a by-election for a dissolved house? Given that, it makes sense to hold elections for the 3 electorates without candidates, as nobody is going to be appointed.

It would seem clear that this situation has not been anticipated in electoral law. It would seem only logical to delay the by-elections by 15 days or whatever is required to match the general election date. The law can be an ass, and the donkeys fully support it.

It is only the 152 democrats that have thrown their toys out of the pram and resigned (7 having done so earlier to join suthep). Apart from the PTP with 265 seats, there are another 16 parties with 76 seats between them. That's a total of 341 seats out of 500. Nothing to stop the existing parties from wishing to contest for more seats whether the dems want to play or not. (this list is by no means 100% accurate as information is derived from Wiki but it does show an alternative)

My, how I would laugh if this scenario were to happen.

Edited December 9, 2013 by fab4

[ib1b4]

It seems rather pointless to have by-elections in 45 days and a general election in 60 days.

It may seem pointless to you but that is what the law is for and it says by elections must be held within 45 days once a MP position is vacated (however bizarrely).

It's laws like that that the dems seem to think they are the only ones to follow when in reality the dems just use laws to suit their particular plans.

So you can see the logical reason to hold a by-election for a dissolved house? Given that, it makes sense to hold elections for the 3 electorates without candidates, as nobody is going to be appointed.

It would seem clear that this situation has not been anticipated in electoral law. It would seem only logical to delay the by-elections by 15 days or whatever is required to match the general election date. The law can be an ass, and the donkeys fully support it.

I think for the by-election for the three vacant seats there were no Democrat nominations ,?

[whybother]

If the Democrats decide to boycott the election again, I think the Thaksin proxy party mark III will have learnt a lot from Thaksin party mark I and won't make the same mistakes again.

[MaxLee]

Election Commission bewildered by Democrat MPs’ mass resignation

Well, where's the problem, there only two methods for elections in Thailand... Vote Buying or Coup-ousted. Neither of the two are democratic, so which one would you like???

[Ticketmaster]

Is it just me? The guy in the photo looks like Thaksin. Maybe his brother?

They all look alike.