Embattled Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has told his followers not to worry about him, saying that all the party members are still in high spirits.

He said on his Facebook page that he would fly back from Europe tomorrow (Thursday) and would settle his problem with the Election Commission (EC).

Thanathorn’s remarks were in response to the EC’s decision on Tuesday to charge him with holding shares in a media company in violation of the Constitution and the Election Act. The EC claimed to have found grounds to substantiate the allegation that the firebrand young politician still possessed 675,000 shares in the V-Luck Media Company when he registered his election candidacy.

The Constitution and the MPs Election Act forbid poll candidates from being proprietors or share-holders of media companies.

Party secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul maintained that Thanathorn had transferred all his shares in V-Luck Media Company on January 8^th, before he registered his candidacy. He said he was surprised by the EC’s decision to file the charge against Thanathorn, adding that he was disappointed that the EC’s probe team had refused to accept additional evidence from Thanathorn’s legal team.

Piyabutr insisted that the EC has no right to check the qualifications of Thanathrn, a party-list candidate, after March 24^th because the election was over, but should do the checking after the formal announcement of the election results and the endorsement of MPs.