Pheu Thai Party blasts Thai election commission poll efforts

Thailand's ruling Pheu Thai Party has accused the Election Commission (EC) of not doing enough to prepare for the Feb. 2 election, suggesting members of the EC may have an "ulterior" motive for not carrying out their duties, local media reported here on Sunday. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul Saturday attacked the EC for asking the government to issue a royal decree to reschedule the elections owing to the country's political crisis. He said the government could not postpone the poll as there was no law that would allow it to do so, adding that the EC was not doing enough to ensure the poll goes ahead and was not trying to solve the problems relating to candidate registration. He said the government had offered its own suggestions but the EC had ignored them, which, he added, implied the EC did not support the poll. Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit said the EC's proposal for the government to put off the poll was "irrational," and if the current EC commissioners could not perform their duties then they should step down to allow others to take their place. Prompong said the party would take the EC to court for dereliction of duty if it failed to instigate legal action against the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee, which has disrupted candidate registration in several southern provinces. EC commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn earlier said the EC would ask the caretaker government to issue a royal decree to cancel the Feb. 2 election, in order to prevent more conflicts.