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Election Commission endorses 349 constituency MPs

Election Commission endorses 349 constituency MPs

BANGKOK: The Election Commission has approved all existing 349 constituency MPs as it rushes to meet the MP endorsement deadline so Parliament can convene by May.

politics
By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 7 May 2019 05:06 PM


Sawaeng Boonmee, deputy secretary-general of the Election Commission, at a briefing on Tuesday (May 7). Photo: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd

Sawaeng Boonmee, deputy secretary-general of the Election Commission, at a briefing on Tuesday (May 7). Photo: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd

The remaining seat was left vacant after the EC banned Surapol Kiatchayakorn, a Pheu Thai candidate for Chiang Mai’s district 8, for giving to a monk B2,000 in cash and a wall clock. A fresh election will be held for the constituency on May 26 and Pheu Thai may not field a candidate.

Of all the approved district MPs, 136 are from Pheu Thai, followed by Palang Pracharath (97), Bhumjaithai (39), Democrat (33), Future Forward (30), Chartthaipattana (6), Prachachat (6), Action Coalition for Thailand (1) and Chartpattana (1).

The EC had said earlier it would endorse the same proportion of the 150 party-list MPs on Wednesday (May 8), apparently after the Constitutional Court decides whether the calculation and allocation method of list seats the EC intends to use is constitutional.

Even after the endorsement, the EC may continue to scrutinise the MPs for possible breaches of election law, which gives it the authority to act over the period of one year but the cases have to be ruled by the Supreme Court for election cases.

 

Read original story here.