Six election candidates representing the Prachachat party have been disqualified by the Election Commission (EC) after they were found to be members of other parties as well.
EC deputy secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee said Wednesday that the six candidates had violated the Political Party Act for allegedly holding memberships in more than one party and, hence, would be deprived of the right to contest an election.
The six candidates are:
- Mrs. Tassanee Chalayondecha, a candidate in Bangkok’s Constituency 15
- Mr. Wirote Wattanaklang, a candidate of Nakhon Ratchasima’s Constituency 6
- Mr. Itthisak Pathan, a candidate of Buri Ram’s Constituency 5
- Mr. Krirkchai Polsa, a candidate of Bung Karn’s Constituency 2
- Mr. Prayad Pimpa, a candidate of Udon Thani’s Constituency 1
- Mr. Arrudet Pang-ahma, a candidate of Udon Thani’s Constituency 3
As a result of the disqualifications, Mr. Sawaeng said the 3,520 votes they received on election day would be deleted from the combined votes of all the party’s candidates.
The Prachachat party was earlier believed to have won 1 constituency seat and 6 party-list seats and might now get fewer party-list seats due to the votes deleted by the EC from the disqualified candidates.
Commenting on the threat, by Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, stating that he might sue the election commissioners for malfeasance in office over their alleged mishandling of the election and alleged mistreatment of his case, Mr. Sawaeng merely said the former had the right to do so.
