The Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) is likely to field Krungsrivilai Suthinpuak in a potential by-election despite the Election Commission (EC) having issued him with a yellow-card for attempted vote-buying.
Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, also the PPRP's chief strategist, said the party believes he did not intend to buy votes and would want him to contest the by-election in Samut Prakan's Constituency 5.
Krung: May have to run again
Whether the by-election will be called has yet to be confirmed.
Gen Prawit's comments followed a recent report that said the EC had decided in late August to issue a yellow card against Mr Krungsrivilai after a close aide of his gave out cash while attending a funeral during the election campaign. This violated Section 73 (1) of the election of MPs law.
However, the poll agency is required to forward the case to the Supreme Court for a final decision as required by Section 133 of the law. If the court agrees, the status of the MP in that constituency will be nullified and the EC will hold a by-election as soon as possible.
The EC also issued a red card against Chartchai Worapipat, a former Democrat Party candidate in Chanthaburi's Constituency 2, for vote-buying. This case will also go to the Supreme Court for a ruling.
If the court upholds the EC's decisions within a year of the March 24 election, votes for party-list seats will be recalculated, which may affect the current make-up of party-list MPs. Mr Krungsrivilai received 41,475 votes while Mr Chartchai received 19,711 votes in the March 24 poll.