The Election Commission (EC) appears reluctant to rule for now on whether the promises made by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to voters while campaigning in northern Thailand contravene election laws.
“We need to first look into the details [of his promises]. So, we can’t answer this question right now,” EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said on Wednesday.
Mr Ittiporn was responding to questions raised about whether Thaksin, widely acknowledged as the real leader of the Pheu Thai Party, broke the law by promising voters something in return for their support in provincial elections.
Of particular concern was his recent promise that household electricity bills would be brought down to 3.70 baht per unit, an 11% reduction from the current level of 4.15 baht.
Within two or three days of Thaksin announcing something, his daughter Paetongtarn, as prime minister, usually declares it to be government policy. Right on cue, on Tuesday she said the government would try to reduce electricity bills to 3.70 baht a unit.
Mr Ittiporn insisted that as the poll body has been closely monitoring campaigning nationwide. Thaksin’s speeches as well as those by other parties will be reviewed by committees tasked with probing election fraud.
Normally there are two such committees: one focusing on violation of election laws and the other on violations of the organic law on political parties, he said.
Asked to clarify whether any coalition party could cite the government’s policies to impress voters when campaigning for the Feb 1 provincial polls, Mr Ittiporn said it depends.
Any references to the national government’s policies which are justifiable are allowed while irrelevant references are not, he said.
“The EC has a team in every province to do this job. So far there have not been any significant irregularities. But the electioneering is expected to intensify,” he said.
When asked whether MPs and cabinet ministers could help candidates in the local elections, he said they could as long as they inform the EC that they intend to act as so-called campaign assistants to a specific candidate.
