A reserve senator and former Pheu Thai MP, has petitioned the Election Commission to consider asking the Constitutional Court to dissolve the Bhumjaithai Party for alleged interference in last year’s Senate election.
Bhumjaithai responded on Tuesday that it was preparing to sue Kusumalwati Sirikomut for defamation.
Ms Kusumalwati said she has solid evidence to link Bhumjaithai secretary-general Chaichanok Chidchob — the son of party patriarch Newin Chidchob — to the mobilisation of a group of people in Buri Ram to contest the 2024 Senate election.
She said a computer program that traced transactions clearly showed who transferred money to whom. However, she said she would not submit the evidence to the Election Commission until asked, as she doesn’t fully trust every official, suspecting some might be spying for her opponents.
Ms Kusumalwati also said she has evidence to prove Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul’s involvement. He and others have repeatedly denied that the party had any influence on the outcome of the vote.
But the unusual nature of the results — 14 senators were elected from Buri Ram, far ahead of second-place Bangkok with 9 — has led to incessant questioning about whether vote-rigging took place.
Ms Kusumalwati alleges that after the election on June 26 last year, Mr Anutin instructed the senators to meet at the Pullman Hotel in Bangkok to sign resignation letters from the party, on the understanding that they would remain under Bhumjaithai’s control.
She said she had both pictures and some audio recordings of the gathering to support her allegations.
Describing electoral interference as an act of destroying democracy, Ms Kusumalwati said she had more evidence to prove the Bhumjaithai leader helped mastermind the vote-rigging, which would support the disbandment of the party. (Story continues below)
Kusumalwati Sirikomut, a reserve senator and former Pheu Thai MP. (Photo: Kusumalwati Sirikomut Facebook account)
Bhumjaithai spokeswoman Nan Boontida Somchai said the party’s legal team had been assigned to pursue legal action against Ms Kusumalwati for defaming the party, its leader and secretary-general.
Others found involved in the reserve senator’s campaign will also face legal action, said the spokeswoman.
“Today, Bhumjaithai has to come out to defend itself against slander and distortions from ill-intentioned political opponents, who appear to have a specific agenda aimed at destroying the party,” she said.
Mr Anutin said that if any references are made implicating members of the party, legal action will be taken accordingly — whether it be for defamation, false reporting or violations of rights
“We are a political party. We cannot simply allow others to damage our reputation without consequence,” he said.
He said he had issued a clear written instruction prohibiting all Bhumjaithai members from getting involved in the election last year.
The order was dated April 30, 2024, two months ahead of the Senate election in June, he said.
Senators answer charges
Throughout the day on Tuesday, several senators arrived at the Election Commission offices to acknowledge the allegations against them in the vote-rigging case, said a source.
The senators, who are being summoned by the EC from Monday to Wednesday, mostly arrived in groups, accompanied by lawyers and waited in nearby cafes to avoid media attention, said the source.
Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisanpang of Bhumjaithai, meanwhile, said he still had not received a summons from the EC requiring him to meet its inquiry committee.
He is reportedly one of the non-senator parties that EC investigators need to question in connection with the alleged vote-rigging.
In related news, the cabinet appointed Prime Minister’s Office Chousak Sirinil to temporarily oversee the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), replacing Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong.
The appointment followed a decision last week by the Constitutional Court ordering Pol Col Tawee to suspend all duties concerning the DSI, which is also investigating vote-rigging and money-laundering.
The court was responding to a petition submitted on behalf of 92 senators, who questioned whether Pol Col Tawee and Deputy PM Phumtham Wechayachai had overstepped their authority by directing the DSI to get involved in the case.