The Green Politics Group on Sunday revealed it was gathering evidence and examining if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra violated the election law when she delivered speeches to help Pheu Thai's Bangkok governor candidate to woo votes.
Suriyasai Katasila, coordinator of the Green Politics group, said it was looking into whether Ms Yingluck broke the law when she tried to convince voters during the campaign that candidate No.9 Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen, would work with the government smoothly and effectively if he was elected the new governor.
Pol Gen Pongsapat’s campaign slogan is "working with the government seamlessly".
In an address to present her work policies with the next governor, Mr Suriyasai said the prime minister singled out several development projects including extending Bangkok's electric railways, installing more lighting on roads and in communities for security reasons and updating the 30-baht universal healthcare programme.
She claimed that if voters chose candidate No.9 from the ruling Pheu Thai, City Hall’s policies would be firmly attached to the government’s and this would allow the government to effectively work with Pol Gen Pongsapat and support budgets for his initiatives. However, there may not be such seamless or smooth cooperation if another candidate is elected.
Ms Yingluck pledged to provide public services including free buses and development of the rail transit system during Pol Gen Pongsapat’s election campaign. This could be considered as lying to the public because it was part of the duties of the head of government to offer such services under the Constitution, Mr Suriyasai said.
He concluded that Ms Yingluck’s speech had given an advantage to the candidate from her party while treating other candidates unfairly. He accused her of misusing her prime ministerial authority and misleading voters into thinking that certain development projects would not materialise if they chose another candidate.
Mr Suriyasai said his group was examining the matter and if strong evidence suggested Ms Yingluck had broken the law, it would submit a petition to the Election Commission early next week.