Election Commission (EC) has confirmed that Pongsathon Sonpechnarintr, the Move Forward party candidate running in the by-election in Constituency 3 of Rayong province, is qualified to contest the poll this Sunday.
The EC’s ruling, which was published on its website, dismissed a complaint challenging the qualifications of Pongsathon on the grounds that he was a Move Forward party-list candidate in the May 14 general election and is, therefore, unqualified to run in the by-election, in accordance with the election law.
The EC said it had conducted an investigation and discovered that Pongsathon, on August 5, had formally requested that the party delete his name from the list of party-list candidates, effective as on August 6, and the party had informed the EC chairman and the House Speaker about Pongsathon’s decision.
The EC also pointed out that, since the May 14 election result has already been announced and Pongsathon was not elected, he is no longer a party-list candidate.
The by-election this Sunday will be a contest between three candidates, from the Move Forward, Democrat and Rang-ngan Sang Chart parties.
Last month, EC Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee also confirmed Pongsathon’s qualification vis-à-vis a tax evasion allegation, noting that the matter concerns the Revenue Department and is not a basis for the disqualification of election candidates.
