The controversy over the Election Commission’s investigation into alleged collusion in the 2024 Senate election intensified on Thursday, with senators accusing opposition figures of pressuring the poll agency and prejudging the case.
The dispute centres on conflicting findings within the EC. The first inquiry sub-committee that it set up recommended legal action against 229 people – including 138 of the 200 senators and numerous Bhumjaithai Party figures – in the election-rigging case.
However, a second sub-committee was later set up and it voted 5-2 to dismiss the complaints. Its recommendation is the one the EC must now decide to accept or reject.
The conflicting decisions were followed by the leak of investigation documents containing details including financial trails, links between candidates and political networks, and score sheets allegedly used to organise voting.
The leaked material reportedly overlaps with evidence being examined by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in a case involving criminal association and money laundering.
Government figures and people implicated in the case have hit back, threatening legal action over the leak and accusing the DSI of political persecution.
The EC now faces pressure to decide whether to seek Supreme Court action against those implicated or end the case in line with the recommendation of the second subcommittee.
The deadline for announcing a decision is Sept 8.
Reserve senators and civil society groups have warned that dropping the case could expose commissioners to accusations of dereliction of duty, while pursuing it could affect the status of numerous sitting senators.
Senator Pisit Apiwattanapong on Thursday criticised People’s Party MP Parit Wacharasindhu and iLaw director Yingcheep Atchanont for publicising information from the leaked files.
He questioned whether the information was authentic and properly sourced, and whether releasing personal information violated the Personal Data Protection Act or could constitute offences involving false computer data or defamation.
Mr Pisit also accused the pair of potentially interfering with the legal process and creating a ‘witch hunt’ against senators through social media, saying the public was being encouraged to prejudge the case.
Senator Kob Ajanakitti similarly questioned whether the opposition campaign amounted to interference, urging the public and media to consider competing claims fairly.
New allegations
Mr Parit, meanwhile, raised fresh allegations linking Prime Minister’s Office Minister Napintorn Srisunpang to the Senate election case.
He said he had received information that Mr Napintorn, then a deputy commerce minister, met a Senate candidate twice at his ministry office on June 24 and 25, 2024, shortly before the final vote in the three-stage election.
Mr Parit alleged that the candidate was asked to sign a resignation letter in advance so it could be used to control him if he became a senator.
He also questioned Mr Napintorn’s explanation that the meetings concerned an oversupply of turkeys in Ratchaburi, saying no record of the complaint cited in that explanation could be found in the ministry’s official registry.
He urged Mr Napintorn to answer the allegations, asked Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun to prevent any retrospective fabrication of documents, and called on the EC to act impartially rather than protect anyone in the ‘blue network’, referring to the Bhumjaithai Party and its political allies.
Mr Parit also said a forum planned for Aug 29 to review more evidence in the election collusion case would be moved from a Bangkok hotel to parliament after the hotel reportedly withdrew permission to host it.