NCPO sacks poll agency’s Somchai
Outspoken Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has been sacked by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for “inappropriate conduct”.
According to the order signed by Gen Prayut Chan-o-chain his capacity as the NCPO chief, Mr Somchai was not fit to serve as an Election Commission (EC) member.
Personal opinions he expressed were deemed to have caused confusion at a critical time when the EC is making election preparations, it said.
Moreover, Mr Somchai applied for the post of EC secretary-general without resigning from the commission and this suggests a conflict of interest and puts the EC’s integrity in doubt, according to the order.
To ensure the EC is able to carry out its work, its remaining members, who are required to vacate office when they reach 70, are allowed to remain in office until a new commission is installed.
Mr Somchai said yesterday he was not discouraged by the order and insisted that his opinions were for the public interest.
“I knew I risked being removed because my media interviews may not have been pleasing to the ears. But I believed that I was doing my job,” he said.
His removal means the EC now only has four members, but it can carry on without any problem, its chairman Supachai Somcharoen said.
Meanwhile, the commission office has rejected an application to establish a party under the name of “Communist Party of Thailand”, saying it is illegal to do so.
The commission’s secretary-general Pol Col Charungwit Phumma said it was among 65 application forms currently lodged with the EC.
At this stage, registration of new parties only involves political groups submitting party names and logos of their choice. The EC is required to examine that they comply with the law.
Pol Col Charungwit said the offending name in question signifies a specific regime and when the constitution says the country is a constitutional monarchy and the political party law says a party name must not violate the constitutional monarchy, the application is rejected.
Asked if the group which submitted the application intended to defy the charter, he said the EC is not responsible for investigating. The agency focuses on the name, the initials and the logo.
“It is a kind of name that doesn’t need further examination. It signifies a specific regime and it doesn’t go the waiting list like another application seeking to set up a party called “Khon Hen Kae Tua” [Selfishness],” he said.
He said the EC has to consult a dictionary when considering certain names to make sure the meanings are permissable. “For this one, we don’t have to,” he said. Deputy EC secretary-general, Sawaeng Boonmee, said registration of a Sangkhom Niyom Party [Socialist] could be allowed because the law does not prohibit it. Charter writer Meechai Ruchupan said its unlikely the application violates the constitution.