Thai EC to dissolve party for nominating Princess

Thailand's Election Commission announced on Wednesday that it is seeking the dissolution of a political party for nominating Princess Ubolratana Mahidol as its candidate for Prime Minister in the upcoming polls.

The poll body resolved on Tuesday to petition the Constitutional Court to take into consideration the dissolution of the Thai Raksa Chart Party. The commissioners primarily charged that party's nomination had violated Article 92 of the Constitution's organic law on political parties.

The party had on last Friday filed the nomination of Princess Ubolratana Mahidol for March polls. Following the poll body's announcement, the party vowed to fight the decision to dissolve the group. The Election Commission was expected to send representatives to the Constitutional Court to submit the petition to dissolve the party on Wednesday, according to a statement cited by Xinhua news agency.

Late on Tuesday night, the Princess posted a message on Instagram to apologize for the controversy her nomination had caused. "I am sorry that my sincere intention to work for the country and my fellow Thai people has caused a problem that should never occur in our time", Ubolratana said.

The nomination of Ubolratana - who relinquished her royal titles in 1972 following her marriage to an American - caused a huge stir in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Princess Ubolratana has apologised on her Instagram for the furore which ensued after she announced her candidature. "I'm sorry that the sincere intention to work to help the country and our Thai people had caused problems that had seemed unlikely to occur in this day and age," she wrote.