PT accuses 4 Democrats of election breaches

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EC asked to probe Dems' speeches

Published: 11 Mar 2013 at 17.15
Online news: Politics

The Pheu Thai Party on Monday petitioned the Election Commission to investigate speeches by four leading members of the Democrat Party during the election campaign for the March 3 Bangkok governor election.

It was alleged they violated Section 57 of the Local Election Act.

The four Democrats named in the petition, filed by Winyat Chartmontree, a member of Pheu Thai's legal team, are Suthep Thaugsuban, a Surat Thani MP, and party list MPs Jurin Laksanavisit, Issara Somchai and Korn Chatikavanij.

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bluebkk
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Discussion 23 : 12 Mar 2013 at 08.3623
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Well discussion 22... are you surprised?? You have written so much red nonsense on this forum , so much denials ,so much red rhetoric that people dislike every single post you are publishing....If you were less fanatic and more objective maybe people would start to take you a little more serious....
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ricefield
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Discussion 22 : 12 Mar 2013 at 08.1822
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Re:- Disc 17 - Do people actually read comments before clicking the dislike button. To dislike a direct translation, from Thai, of the Local Administrators Act 2002 shows the total fatuous use of this like/dislike function.
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ricefield
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Discussion 21 : 12 Mar 2013 at 08.1121
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Disc 20 - Common practice or not it is an offense if proven, just like vote buying, falsifying voters lists and providing rides to the polls. All of which have the same consequence. We will have to wait and see how the EC interprets this petition by the PTP. It could have wide ranging consequences if the EC finds that Abhisit, Suthep etc tried to manipulated the electorate, they could be fined, jailed or even disqualified as MPs.
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genii
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Discussion 20 : 12 Mar 2013 at 07.3120
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The EC warned of misleading polls and candidates mudslinging prior to the election. This will be viewed as common practice during campaigns.
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ricefield
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Discussion 19 : 12 Mar 2013 at 07.2719
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Disc 18 - The way the law is written it's very loose indeed and open to all sorts of interpretations. Personally I feel the Democrat candidate won and likely would have even without the comments by Abhisit, Suthep and others, but having said that the Act does give provision for others who defame a candidate, deface their posters, etc. Bringing up the Reds, the protests, the burning and looting during the campaign is low and dirty politics as the PTP candidate himself was not directly involved. It would be like hanging the Airport occupation and worsening tourist impact of it on Sukhumbhand by the PTP. This could go either way, IMHO
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whatajoke
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Discussion 18 : 12 Mar 2013 at 07.0218
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Well, to be fair Peua Thai are just taking a page out of Dems book, complaining about the victors. Why don't they do something constructive like go away and try to win a Bangkok Gubernatorial election, something they've not managed to do in 20 years. According to Thailand's strict defamation laws, their accusation certainly deserves some attention, though we all know the truth don't we. There were no inaccurate claims in those videos, it's just hasn't been officially proven yet.
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ricefield
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Discussion 17 : 12 Mar 2013 at 06.3717
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Disc 15 cont. - The EC has two powers to deal with this if he/she is/was a candidate.

Yellow Card - Given to a candidate when fraud is found being committed by others to help him/her win the election. A re-election or a by election shall be called. The person given a yellow card can stand in the new round of election.

Red Card - The EC can revoke the voting right of a candidate if there is evidence that he/she supports or colludes with those who commit fraudulent act. The person cannot contest any election or by-election for a year.

Is Translation so may not be 100% accurate.
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ricefield
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Discussion 16 : 12 Mar 2013 at 06.2916
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Disc 15 - Section 57 refers to the the Local Administrators Act 2002 which bans people from defaming candidates. If convicted, he/she could be jailed up to 10 years or fined 20,000-100,000 baht. Under "Offenses and Irregularities" I found this but it's wide ranging, "Creating misunderstanding about a candidate" it doesn't specify who could create the misunderstanding or what it may be, which is typical in Thai law.
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pci
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Discussion 15 : 12 Mar 2013 at 03.3815
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Can someone please explain the Section 57 of the Local Election Law? What I read in the article I don't see anything so serious enough to warrant a lawsuit. It's so childish or, like another comment stated, a sore loser.
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ringmaster
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Discussion 14 : 12 Mar 2013 at 00.1614
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The Nazis burned the Reichstag building in 1933 and claimed that a communist was responsible. They used the incident for political gain and suspended civil liberties. It was a classic "false flag" operation.

I'm not saying the Dems actually took a lesson from the Nazis in this case. I have no proof of that. But didn't Democrat party MP Boonyod Sukthinthai vocally salute Hitler at the top of his lungs last year in Parliament?
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PT accuses 4 Democrats of election breaches | Bangkok Post: news

EC asked to probe Dems' speeches

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