Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) is expected to issue letters asking an initial group of 60 senators to acknowledge charges of senatorial election collusion and to present evidence in their defence.
A well-informed EC source says that the move comes after the joint investigation, by the EC and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), gathered sufficient evidence to prove that the last senatorial election was riddled with collusion between candidates, to ensure the election of certain candidates in the provincial and national levels of the election process.
The source said that investigators from the DSI, led by Pol Lt-Col Anurak Rojnirunkit, the DSI deputy director-general, and investigators from the EC have been working on the case for almost two months.
The source also said that more senators will be asked to acknowledge charges.
Several failed senatorial candidates had earlier lodged complaints with the EC, the DSI, the Law Council of Thailand and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging that the senatorial election was plagued by collusion.
Senate Speaker Mongkol Surasajja has, however, contended that the DSI has no authority to investigate the alleged election fraud as a special case, claiming that such an inquiry is the province of the EC.
