Ec Decision Due Today On Final Red Mps-Elect

[Flashermac]

The Election Commission will today decide whether to endorse the remaining red shirt MPs-elect, including Jatuporn Prompan and Natthawut Saikua, an EC source says.

 

The other red shirt election winners who have not yet been certified include Payap Panket, Jarupan Kuldiloke and Karun Hosakul.

 

The source said EC commissioners would discuss the fate of red shirt leaders who contested the July 3 election under the Pheu Thai banner today. Their endorsement would also be decided.

 

If the EC endorses further MPs-elect today, it will be the fourth round of MPs to be approved nearly four weeks after the election. The EC has still only certified the status of 402 MPs, 285 constituency seats and 117 party-list MPs.

 

EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond yesterday reaffirmed that the EC can endorse the required minimum of 95% of MPs within this week.

 

Under the constitution, at least 95% (475) of 500 MPs must be endorsed before the first House meeting can be convened. So far, 98 poll winners have not been endorsed.

 

Meanwhile, Winyat Chartmontri, a lawyer of detained MP-elect Mr Jatuporn, yesterday met with election commissioners and asked them to help endorse his client.

 

Mr Winyat said the EC's probe into qualifications of detained Pheu Thai list MP-elect Jatuporn was not valid.

 

He argued that the EC's power was based on the election law which only stipulates that the agency's power to examine the candidates' qualifications ends on the polling date.

 

However, the EC has declined to endorse Mr Jatuporn, who is also a red shirt leader, as a party-list MP following a complaint that he may have lost his party membership and thus was not qualified to run in the July 3 election.

 

Mr Winyat, acting on Mr Jatuporn's behalf, also handed over four sets of documents to the EC to prove that his client is qualified to hold MP status.

 

One of them was the copy of Sections 40 and 45 of the election law which stipulates that the EC is not authorised to consider the qualifications of election candidates when the election takes place.

 

The three others are: a copy of the Pheu Thai's party regulations which do not say that party membership is terminated when a person is jailed; a copy of a bail request submitted to the Criminal Court; and the district office's acknowledgment of Mr Jatuporn's explanation as to why he did not cast his vote.

 

Meanwhile, the EC denied a report that there were attempts to bribe members of the EC subcommittee to water down the poll-related complaints.

 

EC member Sodsri Satayathum said that an allegation without evidence was nothing but defamation and that the investigations into the complaints had to be conducted thoroughly.

 

 

BP