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HOSTILITY

Wissanu rejects removal of EC chair amid row

THE NATION 

 

 

'Hostile words' as members demand Supachai quit post

 

BANGKOK: -- DEPUTY Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam warned yesterday against changing the Election Commission (EC) chairman at this time, saying that any alteration would require royal endorsement and he saw no need to bother His Majesty the King.

Meanwhile, he maintained that it was the EC's duty to organise elections and disqualify winning candidates suspected of electoral fraud.

He was responding to a proposal by the National Reform Steering Assembly's political reform committee that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) should help the EC oversee the organising of elections.

However, the deputy premier yesterday said replacing the EC chairman would not be against the NCPO order that suspended the selection of new independent organisation members.

His remarks came after news of an ongoing dispute among EC members about whether to replace the commission's chairman, Supachai Somcharoen, who had overstayed his position. Before assuming his seat, Supachai reportedly promised his colleagues to leave the post after two years.

Supachai admitted yesterday that there had been a deal among the five EC members for him to serve as chairman for two years. 

He said he had had no intention of overstaying that duration but that he did not want to bring more confusion to the country at this time.

Wissanu told Government House reporters yesterday that the NCPO Order No 40/2559, which suspended the selection of new independent organisation members, should not be applied in the EC's case. However, he added that any changes of top positions at the EC would require royal endorsement and he viewed that as an unnecessary extra burden for the King.

Last Friday, an EC meeting resolved to submit a letter to ask the NCPO whether the relevant order applied to the EC chairman. One EC member requested a secret meeting and asked Supachai to honour his promise to serve only two years. 

Supachai was asked why he had not stepped down, according to a source. Supachai argued that he was not attached to his position but he had not stepped down because he wanted to complete the important mission of holding the public referendum. 

He said he also feared that if he stepped down, he would lose his EC membership, which might be in breach of the NCPO's order. 

The five EC members then engaged in a hostile verbal argument, with three EC members supporting a change of leadership, the source said. The meeting failed to resolve the issue and the commission decided to hold another meeting last Friday, amid criticism that the body was deeply divided. 

At the meeting on Friday, one EC member who wanted Supachai to step down spoke before a number of high-ranking EC officials, saying he disapproved of the chairman's reasons regarding a possible violation of the NCPO's order. He said Supachai's resignation as chairman would not prevent him remaining at the EC. 

The EC member cited the previous resignation of Constitutional Court president Chut Chonlavorn, who still serves as judge, adding that if Supachai stepped down as chairman, he would still serve as an EC member. 

Supachai's supporters argued that there was not a regulation stating that the EC had the right to remove the chairman. The meeting then resolved to seek the NCPO's clarification over its order. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Wissanu-rejects-removal-of-EC-chair-amid-row-30294599.html

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-09-06

[xineohp]

The EC should be totally removed from political influence.

[candide]

He's been a good junta's puppet and enthusiasticly complied with all their requests to organise a rigged referendum. No reason to remove him now.

[chinostar]

Would it make any difference?