BANGKOK, 10 August 2015 – The Election Commission of Thailand (EC) has said it needs absolute power if Thailand is to have transparent elections in order to deal with vote buying and other election irregularities.
Following a comment by former People’s Democratic Reform Committee Suthep Thaugsuban, who lambasted the EC for failing to prevent corruption, EC member Prawit Rattanapean admitted that the current EC was unable to hold the last general elections as political conflicts intensified even though it, like everyone else, wanted to hold a free, fair and corruption-free election but could not do so as it had no power required.
The present Constitution Drafting Committee has also refused to hand the EC more power which Mr. Pawit claimed would authorize the EC more to keep elections transparent.
He has expressed his support for national reform particularly in relation to elections in order to stop Thailand from making the same political mistakes all over again. He is also urging critics of the EC to make use of their ability to help pulling the country out of the political abyss instead of making comments.
