The Election Commission (EC) will not attend today's meeting of the special cases board of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), called to decide whether to investigate alleged collusion in last year's Senate election, a source said yesterday.
The EC agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to instead send the board a letter asserting that it was actually the EC that has the authority to investigate the case, the source said.
The board, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, was initially expected to make a decision on Feb 25 but postponed it to allow for further review.
Mr Phumtham on Wednesday declined to comment on the EC's decision, saying he would rather wait until the meeting actually happens before saying anything about it.
When asked for comment on the EC's assertion that it has the authority under Section 49 of the organic law on the Election Commission to run the election fraud investigation, Mr Phumtham said he hadn't seen the EC's written reply to the board's letter.
The complaints related to alleged vote-fixing were made by a group of unsuccessful Senate candidates, including some reserve list ones, who claimed the EC has been slow to act.
The allegations are believed to be directed against "blue bloc" senators, a reference to a group known to favour the Bhumjaithai Party, a government coalition member.
Senator Chattrawat Saengphet, meanwhile, backtracked on his remark in parliament on Tuesday, in which he said the DSI board could face legal action for overstepping its power if it agrees to investigate the case. The senator said this could be considered an attempt to overthrow democratic principles.
However, yesterday he said he was accusing no one of doing anything wrong since what he said on Tuesday had yet to happen.
The red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, meanwile, said a board vote against the government's push for the DSI to handle the case could signal a loss of power.
