Oct 15 Thai election pushed back to early November, supposedly

from The Nation:

EC eyes earliest possible new date

Opposition calls on commissioners to overhaul system to ensure free and fair national poll

Prapan Naikowit, a newly elected member of the Election Commission (EC), said yesterday that he and his colleagues would try to organise the next general election as soon as possible because a free and fair poll will help to solve the protracted political crisis.

However, Prapan - who received the highest number of confirmation votes from the Senate (124) - added that the scheduled poll date of October 15 would have to be delayed because there was not enough preparatory time for the new EC.

"I will consult with the four other commissioners as well as political parties and other related officials on a new date," said Prapan, a former public prosecutor.

"I think we will have to postpone the poll because the legislation for the new election on October 15 came into effect on August 24. According to law, we need to have MP candidates registered for the election within 20 days after August 24.

"That means we will have to complete this by September 12 or else we could face legal problems afterwards."

According to Prapan, all five new EC members will hold their first meeting on September 14 to select a chairman and to outline their tasks and responsibilities.

Besides Prapan, the four other new commissioners are all former Supreme or lower-court judges, namely Apichat Sukhakkanon, Somchai Jungprasert, Sumet Oupanisakorn and Sodsri Satayathum.

The Senate picked these candidates from the final 10 nominees to fill all five vacant seats.

After reorganising the EC, the immediate task is to hold the next election in a free and fair manner, Prapan said.

Earlier, the People's Alliance for Democracy and other anti-Thaksin networks urged the new EC to reorganise the whole agency before holding the next poll.

They said the new election would not be transparent if most of the local EC officials in each of the 400 constituencies nationwide remained unchanged, since they were appointed by the previous chairman and commissioners, who were accused of being "part of the Thaksin regime".

These critics urged the new EC to replace pro-Thaksin election officials with those who are politically impartial.

However, Prapan said such a reorganisation will take several months and was not yet practical because the new EC needed to hold the election first.

Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra believed the new election would be held by the end of November.

He said the new election decree could be royally endorsed and become effective by October 1. As the law requires that an election be held within 60 days of the decree becoming effective, the new election should take place by the end of November, he added.

Chuan Leekpai, chairman of the opposition Democrat Party, said the new EC would have to do their utmost to ensure a fair election.

"I hope the new commissioners will be able to prevent election fraud and irregularities because the last poll was said to be dishonest," he said.

"I guess the Thaksin regime and its political influence is still evident, as seen in the Senate votes for the new EC members.

"Still, all five new commissioners are good guys, but they will have to work hard. They need to understand new fraudulent techniques and introduce preventative measures."