Case will now go to state prosecutors
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA
The Election Commission yesterday agreed to recommend the dissolution of the People Power party (PPP) to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), EC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn said. Mr Suthiphon said the five election commissioners unanimously approved the recommendation of the sub-panel on the dissolution of the PPP.
The move follows the disqualification of former PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat, convicted by the Supreme Court in early July of vote buying in the last general election.
Mr Suthiphon said EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond, in his capacity as political party registrar, will forward the resolution along with supporting evidence to the OAG.
Mr Suthiphon said the EC has asked the prosecutors for a decision on its recommendation within 30 days.
If they agree the evidence is sufficient, the Constitution Court will be asked to dissolve the PPP.
If the case is not considered strong enough, the political party registrar and the OAG would set up a team with representatives from the EC and the prosecution to gather more evidence.
This team would be required to recommend the PPP's dissolution to the OAG. If it could not make a decision within 30 days, the political party registrar, with approval from the EC, would be then required to file the case for the PPP's dissolution himself.
Asked if the EC expected its resolution yesterday would encourage more people to join political demonstrations, Mr Suthiphon said the EC had not discussed the issue.
The commission had for a long time been considering forwarding the recommendation to dissolve the PPP to the OAG.
''We insist that the EC has not applied a double standard in its handling of the PPP case. The Constitution Court is the one ruling on the dissolution,'' said Mr Suthiphon.
However, the PPP dissolution case is a bit different from the recommended dissolution of the Chart Thai and Matchimathipataya parties, because the PPP case is backed by a Supreme Court verdict on Mr Yongyuth's involvement in election fraud, he said.
PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang said he was not at all alarmed by the EC's resolution yesterday, as it had been expected.
It was only the beginning of a lengthy dissolution process. It would be a while before the OAG would ask the Constitution Court for a ruling.
Mr Kuthep said the People Power party had appointed a team of lawyers to fight the dissolution case to the end. The party was ready to accept the court's ruling, however.
''But as long as we're breathing, we'll continue our fight,'' Mr Kuthep said.
Ruangrot Chomsueb, EC public relations director, said the OAG had already decided the case was not strong enough to petition the Constitution Court for the dissolution of the Chart Thai and Matchimathipataya parties.
As a result, the EC and the OAG had appointed joint working teams to gather more evidence.
The two teams had since recommended to the OAG that it proceed with the filing of cases for the dissolution of both parties.
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