The Election Commission (EC) has shown its partiality in the lead-up to the Feb 6 general election, and could be ousted after the poll if it does not watch itself, academics say.

''Don't say the commission is a paper tiger. It's just a little cat that can't do anything,'' said Chaoren Kampirapharb, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's faculty of law yesterday.

Democracy activists stepped up calls yesterday for the public to keep a close watch on not only cheating candidates but also the EC which they said had failed to keep politics clean and fair.

Kanin Boonsuwan, a former constitution writer, said the commission had failed to purge the election of three evils _ money, influence and state power.

''This election will be the worst in our history, with the party in power dominating the media. The EC has failed in its task of monitoring politicians,'' said Mr Kanin.

The constitution requires the EC to arrange equal airtime on radio and TV for each party, while prohibiting the government from buying airtime for propaganda.

''But over the past month, the ruling party has used both radio and TV for its own campaign. What has the Election Commission been doing all this time?'' said Mr Kanin.

Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said many poll fraud complaints had come to light, but the EC had yet to issue yellow or red cards to any candidates, which was strange.

The commission, he said, was unable to set a standard for its rulings, so fraudulent behaviour was able to flourish.

Mr Suriyasai also questioned the EC's neutrality, given the way it was handling complaints.

One example was the row in which the Democrat party was accused of putting quotations from Their Majesties' speeches on its campaign stickers.

''Thai Rak Thai exploited the issue for its own gain, but the EC let the case go on for days,'' Mr Suriyasai said.

He contrasted this with the case of Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob, whom the Democrats said had tried to buy votes for Thai Rak Thai candidates in Phatthalung and Satun provinces. The commission, however, said it would not make a ruling before Feb 6 because Mr Newin is not among Thai Rak Thai's party list candidates.

''If the EC still does nothing after the election, it could be checked and even ousted by the civil sector,'' said Mr Suriyasai.

Law lecturer Charoen Kampirapharb said the commission had not given the civil sector airtime to share opinions with voters.

The government's free trade policies and its proposed draft bill on a special economic zone should get a better airing, Mr Charoen said.

In his view, the policies would put the country in danger.