BANGKOK, 6 January 2014 The Election Commission (EC) has resolved to disqualify a total of 87 MP candidates for the party-list system while urging them to file a complaint with the Supreme Court if they disagree with the decision.
Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn revealed that the EC had reviewed the qualifications of all candidates contending for party-list MP seats in the next general election. Out of 1,249 candidates, 87 were pronounced ineligible to run in the election due to various reasons.
Twenty-five disqualified candidates were found to have been members of their political parties for less than the minimum requirement of 30 days. Another batch was found to have failed to exercise voting rights in previous local and general elections. The rest had prohibited backgrounds, such as having been released from prison for no more than 5 years and being bankrupt. Among the candidates who did not pass the screening is Mr Arisman Pongruangrong, the Pheu Thai Party’s candidate number 75.
EC Secretary-General Phuchong Nutrawong made suggestions to the disqualified, saying should any of them want to defend their electoral rights, they could file a petition with the Supreme Court’s Election Cases Division along with evidence to back their claims.
