Ex-EC member confident election result will be endorsed within 2-month deadline
A former Election Commission (EC) member has expressed confidence the EC will endorse the election results within the two-month deadline, preventing Prayut Chan-o-cha’s caretaker government from prolonging its time in power.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, who is now Seree Ruam Thai (Thai Liberal) Party’s chairman of strategy and policy, said there should be no reason for the outgoing Prayut government to remain in office longer than two months after the May 14 election.
Critics have voiced concern that the government might seek to prolong its caretaker role by triggering a challenge that prevents the EC from endorsing the election results within the deadline.
The EC is required by law to endorse 95% of election contests or 475 MPs within two months, before the House can convene its first meeting after the election to select the next prime minister.
Somchai noted that at the 2019 election, the EC had called for a rerun of just one constituency poll after the initial winner was disqualified.
Somchai said that even if the EC decides to disqualify 20 election winners, the Prayut government would be able to prolong its power by no more than two weeks during the period required for election reruns.
“I believe there will be no reason for the caretaker government to extend its time in power longer than that,” Somchai said.
He said the only thing that could prevent the EC from endorsing the results would be if it resigned, adding he did not think this was a realistic prospect.
