The use of the emergency decree in the Bangkok area is not a guarantee the polls will go ahead smoothly because anti-government protesters remain defiant, election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said on Wednesday.
Protesters mob the provincial hall in Samut Prakan province, adjacent to Bangkok, on Wednesday, Jan 22, 2014 to prevent local officials working. (Photo by Sutthiwit Chayutworakan)
Mr Somchai admitted he was not certain the polls could be held as planned on Feb 2 even though the declared state of emergency took effect on Wednesday.
"The other side has already announced that it will move to every area it is banned from by the decree,'' he told Chulalongkorn University radio, referring to the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest led by Suthep Thaugsuban.
"It's like taking medicine. It is going to take a few days to see the effect,'' he added.
The 60-day Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations is in force in all areas of Bangkok and adjoining Nonthaburi province, in Lat Lum Kaeo district in Pathum Thani province where the Thaicom satellite station is located, and Bang Phli district in Samut Prakan province, the home of Suvarnabhumi airport.
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said on Tuesday that the goal of invoking the decree is to safeguard the election and bring the political situation under firm control amid the relentless protests by the PDRC.
"The government has decided to invoke the emergency decree to control the situation with the aim of enforcing the law against wrongdoers and supporters of the protests, and to help the democratic process and the country move forward,'' he said.
First it has to overcome a stumbling block centred on a conflict with the Election Commission (EC), which is reponsible for organising and ensuring free, fair and safe polls. The commissioners want the poll to be either postponed or cancelled and on Wednesday sought a ruling from the Constitution Court on who has the authority to postpone the polls, arguing that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has both the responsibility and authority to do so.
Ms Yingluck has repeatedly said the government has no authority to change a royal decree setting an election date.
The EC is worried there could be a deadlock after the election as it seems clear the new House of Representatives would not have the legal quorum to convene in its first meeting. It is also concerned about the growing violence surrounding the protesters trying to derail the polls.
The House needs 475 of the 500 MPs present to convene and select a new prime minister. Candidates were not able to register in 28 constituencies in the southern region because of protests by PRDC supporters.
The court can rule in any of three ways on the issue. It could decide the caretaker premier has responsibility for the election date, that the authority rests with the EC, or that it is not within the court's jurisdiction to make a decision.
Mr Somchai, in the interview with Chulalongkorn University radio, refused to say whether the EC would postpone the poll if the court rules that the EC has authority to do so.
Meanwhile, the EC promised to go ahead with preparations for the polls as long as the date remains unchanged.
However, Mr Somchai on Wednesday made his preference clear. "An election is not divine. It can be postponed if it cannot be held,'' he told reporters on Wednesday in Songkhla.
Somkit Lertpaitoon, a legal adviser to the Election Commission, warned the caretaker government on Tuesday that it would be held responsible for whatever develops if it decides to go ahead with the election on Feb 2.
The photo gallery captures different events surrounding anti-government protests in Thailand on Jan 22, 2014. (Bangkok Post photos)