A survey has found that the Election Commission (EC) is expected to face the most political challenges following its decision to seek legal action against 77 people over alleged collusion in the Senate election, although most respondents do not expect the case to cause political unrest.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and all parties in the coalition government followed, with 31.53% of respondents naming the prime minister and 25.42% naming all coalition parties.
Others expected to face political and/or legal challenges include the 77 people facing legal proceedings (15.88%), the Bhumjaithai Party (13.97%), the 26 senators facing legal proceedings (8.24%), opposition parties (7.86%) and senators not among those currently facing legal proceedings (6.64%).
On September 15th and 16th, the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA Poll) surveyed 1,310 people aged 18 and over from all regions of the country.
The survey followed the EC’s decision to seek prosecution in the Supreme Court and pursue criminal proceedings against 77 people accused of colluding in the Senate election, including 26 sitting senators. Anutin and Bhumjaithai executive members were excluded from the list, drawing criticism from several groups.
Asked how they viewed the EC’s decision, 34.27% of respondents said they had not expected anything in particular.
Another 21% said the decision was very much in line with their expectations, while 17.86% said it was completely different from what they had expected.
Meanwhile, 15.50% said the decision was fairly close to their expectations, while 10.84% said it was not very close to their expectations.
Regarding concerns about possible political unrest resulting from the EC’s decision, 35.34% said they were not concerned at all. Another 30.46% said they were somewhat concerned, 19.16% said they were not very concerned and 15.04% said they were very concerned.
