Clarity on Senate polling rules to be finalized on Friday

The Election Commission (EC) is expected to offer clarity on Friday about the ramifications of a Constitutional Court decision on Wednesday to hear a petition seeking its ruling on whether four controversial provisions in the organic law governing the Senate election breach the charter.

The court's decision came ahead of the district-level voting of the election, which is scheduled to be held nationwide on Sunday. The court, however, did not issue any injunction, finding it did not foresee any serious repercussions from the Senate poll proceeding.

At the centre of the controversy are Sections 36, 40(3), 41(3) and 42(3) of the Senate election law. Section 36 involves the self-introduction of the candidates, while the three others deal with voting -- both in the same group and across professional groups -- at the district, provincial and national levels.

The court voted 8:1 to accept a ruling on whether the provisions violate Section 107 of the charter, which outlines the Senate selection process. The court also instructed state agencies to submit their opinions to the court within five days of receiving the order or within the next week.

Following the court's decision, the EC has had its election management and legal departments look for ways to resolve the issue. The outcome is expected to be forwarded to the seven commissioners to review and reach a decision on, supposedly today, said EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee on Thursday.

In a message sent to all EC executives on Thursday, Mr Sawang assured them that a solution would be reached as soon as possible so that all EC officials would know exactly what to do with Sunday's district-level voting.

The legal dispute stems from the organic law on the 2018 composition of the Senate, which the EC strictly referred to when drafting regulations for the forthcoming Senate election, not these regulations themselves, said Mr Sawang.

As such, he said the EC is confident it has a clear explanation against the alleged violation of the constitution. "I strongly believe this problem will eventually be solved," he said.

EC chairman Itthiporn Boonpracong told provincial EC officials in Ang Thong on Thursday that they had to strictly follow the Senate election handbook when handling Sunday's voting.

Caretaker Senator Somchai Swangkarn, who has previously claimed that up to 149 candidates were already earmarked as winners at the district and provincial levels before the vote, warned on Thursday those found involved in acts of collusion could face up to 10 years in prison.

Those EC officials who fail to screen election candidates properly could also end up facing charges of dereliction of duty, he said.

Another caretaker senator, Direkrit Janekrongtham, said he was concerned that the results of the Senate election would not be announced on July 2 as planned, considering all these problems surrounding the election of 200 new senators.