Ex-EC official 'mishandled' 2019 ballots cast by Thais in New Zealand
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) concluded that a former high-ranking Election Commission official had committed a severe disciplinary offence in his handling of election ballots from New Zealand in 2019.
The allegation against Nat Laosisawakul, former EC office deputy secretary-general who is now retired, was announced by NACC Office secretary-general Niwatchai Kasemmongkol on Monday.
Nat oversaw the March 23, 2019, general election. Niwatchai said the NACC reviewed the investigation report and decided that Nat failed to act within his responsibility and power to ensure that ballots cast by Thai expatriates in New Zealand reached the EC in time for counting.
Niwatchai said Nat knew since March 22 that the mailbag containing ballots from the Thai Embassy in Wellington may not be delivered in time for counting on the following night.
The NACC noted that Nat had been informed of the delay by his subordinates and other agencies, but did nothing to deal with the issue. He did not provide any advice or instructions to his subordinates either.
The NACC also noted that Nat had failed to hold an urgent meeting to address the issue and did not report the problem to his superior to come up with a solution in time.
The commission also noted that the mailbag arrived at Suvarnabhumi International Airport by 8.50pm, and though Nat knew this, he did not order any of his officials to rush to the airport to pick up the bag.
He also failed to inform his superior of the bag’s arrival and votes cast by Thais in New Zealand did not get included in the final count, NACC concluded.
The NACC pointed out that an election gives each Thai both inside and outside the country their constitutional right to vote. It also said that a very large budget is required to hold an election.
Hence, all officials overseeing the election should pay utmost attention to the task, the NACC said.
However, it said, Nat did not carry out his duty to solve or mitigate the impact of the damage caused by the delayed delivery.
As a result, the NACC concluded that Nat had committed a severe disciplinary offence by failing to observe the law and electoral regulations, resulting in severe damage to the EC Office.
Niwatchai said the NACC also concluded that the two Foreign Ministry officials investigated along with Nat were innocent because they had done everything within their power to have the diplomatic mailbag delivered to Thailand on time.
The NACC will next ask the EC Office to launch a disciplinary probe against Nat retroactively.
After the ballots were delayed, the then-EC secretary-general transferred Nat to the post of director of the Political and Election Development Institute on March 24, 2019.
On Monday, Nat said he had heard about the NACC’s decision against him from news reports, but was perplexed.
He said he had explained to the NACC that the issue was “force majeure” because the delay was caused by a logistics problem in New Zealand that he could do nothing about. He added that all sides had tried their best to have the diplomatic mailbag delivered in time but failed.
