EC chair admits potential delay to consider Democrat scandal

BANGKOK, 13 January 2010 (NNT) – Election Commission (EC) Chairperson, Apichart Sukhagganond, in his capacity as the political-party registrar, has admitted potential delays in considering the scandalous donation of the Democrat Party.

Speaking about the progress of the case, Mr Apichart stated that he had assigned all units to work on the case upon his first day back at work after he was admitted to hospital due to high blood pressure. The assigned committee will conclude every meeting and inform the progress to the public to ensure transparency of the EC in its operation.

The EC chairperson asked all sides to understand the operational process of the EC since the political party registrar did not have much authority and therefore would consume a considerable amount of time to complete the case.

Mr Apichart said he would not be able to finish the case within this month but promised to read all 7,000 pages of related documents. He however did not answer if the case would be brought back to the EC again or not upon its completion.

The ruling Democrat Party is accused of illegally receiving a donation of 258 million THB from TPI Polene Plc, Thailand’s giant cement manufacturer and misusing the supporting budget of 29 million THB allocated by the EC. The EC earlier has concluded not to dissolve the ruling Democrat Party but asked the political-party registrar to have the final say on this issue.