EC could cause poll date delay

An October election next year depends on whether the last two organic bills on electing lawmakers are accepted by the Election Commission, a source at the commission says.

Otherwise further scrutiny could set the date back to December, the source said.

He based his estimation on a process which requires the bills, currently being drafted by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), go to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), the cabinet, the Council of State and His Majesty the King.

The bills — one on the selection of the Senate and the other on the election of MPs — are already in the drafting queue.

The CDC expects to complete drafting the MP election bill, which the source described as the “last bill,” and pass it to the NLA by Dec 1 this year.

If there is no objection from the EC and these last two bills sail through the necessary stages, the country will have an election as soon as mid-October, the source told the Bangkok Post yesterday.

But if the election watchdog disagrees with the bills, the NLA will need to form a committee, comprising NLA, EC and CDC members, to jointly review the legislation before sending the bills back to lawmakers for approval again.

This would cause a delay of about 30 days, according to the source. The bills can face a further delay if the Constitutional Court is asked to consider them, which should take less than one month.

If these delays occur, the election can be expected in December next year, the source said.

“What will happen after the bills reach the NLA is unpredictable,” CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said.

What can be said for sure at this moment is that the CDC will have spent about eight months drafting a total of 10 organic bills.

“The drafting of the last two bills might only be finished a few days before the deadline,” he said, adding it is inevitable that corrections will have to be made.