Thailand discuss fate of constituencies failing to conduct voting during general election

Five Thai Election Commissioners is scheduled to meet Monday to find a solution to constituencies that failed to conduct voting during the general election on Sunday. An Election Commissioner said on Monday that the poling commission could postpone an election for seven days in a constituency that is interrupted by chaos or other situations following an electoral law. It means seven days after the crisis, not seven days after a set national election, EC Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyarkorn was quoted by the Nation newspaper as saying. In case the political chaos seem to ease, it is no need to reschedule the new round of voting in 69 constituencies, which were disrupted during Sunday election. However, if it is not sure that the election would end the crisis, then it is not necessary to hold a new election that quick, said Somchai. The commission will discuss the voting in the 69 constituencies, together with the 28 constituencies that had no candidates and 16 constituencies that had single candidate, said Somchai. However, he said, the issue of the advance voting, which was failed to complete earlier on Jan. 26, would not be handled by the EC. The caretaker government needs a new decree to set a new date, he added. Thailand went through with its general election on Sunday in a surprisingly peaceful way, with no injuries reported throughout, but more than 10,000 polling stations at 69 constituencies in 18 provinces were forced to cancel voting due to protests, or a shortage of election officials and ballots. As the Thai constitution requires a minimum of 95 percent of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives to be filled to validate the convening of the House, the lack of candidate in the 28 constituencies will prevent the election from generating enough MPs.