Laksi by-election on Jan 30
The Election Commission (EC) has announced that the by-election in Bangkok’s Constituency 9 will be held on Jan 30 with candidate registration starting on Thursday and running until Monday.
The by-election is necessary to fill a vacancy left by ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) MP Sira Jenjaka, who was disqualified last month by the Constitutional Court for having been convicted of fraud by the Pathumwan District Court in 1995 and sentenced to eight months in jail.
Yesterday, the EC said the law requires political parties fielding candidates to already be operating a branch or have a representative in Bangkok.
So far, the PPRP, Move Forward and Democrat and Kla parties have released the names of their candidates.
The EC has also capped campaign spending at 1.5 million baht for each candidate, which is calculated from the day the MP seat became vacant on Dec 22 right up to Jan 30. Both the winning and losing candidates must declare their election spending within 90 days of the by-election being held.
Meanwhile, the Kla Party were on the campaign trail in Bang Khen district and Amornpan area yesterday.
Atavit Suwannapakdee, party secretary-general, and also its candidate in the by-election, said he was confident of winning despite having less than a month of canvassing time left.
He said the party has also candidates standing in by-elections in Chumphon and Songkhla; however he remained concerned about votebuying in some provinces.