EC, drafters to discuss lifetime political ban for electoral fraud
ELECTION Commission (EC) president Supachai Somcharoen will meet with the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) on Monday to discuss the so-called “black card” lifetime political ban controversy.
The discussion will concentrate on the intention of the drafters who wrote in the charter that people found guilty of election fraud must receive a lifetime ban on standing in elections.
The EC submitted a draft organic law on the election of members of the House of Representatives to the CDC yesterday. The drafters will deliberate on whether the law is in line with the constitution draft, passed in the referendum last month.
The EC had earlier disclosed that under the law it could issue colour-coded cards to disqualify candidates, which drew heavy criticism from political parties, particularly in regard to a clause in the law that would result in the agency issuing a ‘black card’ or lifetime ban to election candidates found guilty of fraud by a court.
EC member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn asked people not to blame the EC over the matter. He said it had been written in the constitution draft that the organic laws must be in line with the charter and the lifetime ban was not an EC initiative.
Electoral expert Jarungwit Pumma explained that the organic law followed Article 235 of the constitution, which stated that anyone stripped of their electoral rights must not be able to contest any political election or hold any political position.
Jarungwit said Article 98 of the charter detailed the disqualification of MP candidates and stated that anyone found guilty of electoral fraud must not be eligible to contest another election.
He said the measure would not be applied retroactively to banned politicians unless they were found guilty of electoral fraud.
The new organic law would also result in changes to election campaigning.
Somchai said leaders of political parties would be featured in televised debates with critics and competitors. This would allow the public to see exchanges on policies before deciding how to vote.
He said the proposal requiring political parties to submit policies to the EC before campaigning stemmed from the agency being responsible for creating public relations material to be sent to voters.
He denied the EC would censor or filter the policies, but if a policy might have a negative impact on the country’s security, the agency would issue a warning and call for the party to remove the offending material. If a party did not cooperate, the EC could file a lawsuit against its personnel.
The EC also stressed the draft organic law was not yet in its final version. The CDC would look at the law’s details before finalising it, the agency said.
