Dr Chaiyan Chaiyaporn likes to sport shoulder-length hair, giving him a resemblance to the "flower children" of the 1960s. The 47-year-old associate professor at Chulalongkorn University also loves comic books and music. He used to play guitar during his school days, when one of his classmates was Tierry Mekwattana, now a key member of the popular songs-for-life band Carabao.

Chaiyan made national headlines after he tore his ballot papers during the snap general election on April 2 in a symbolic act of civil disobedience against what he described as the illegitimate Thaksin regime.

His action drew lots of public attention and controversy. Some people called him a "crazy" academic with long hair, while others listened closely to his reasons for what he did.

Now, law enforcement officials are considering whether to bring a criminal case against Chaiyan. According to the election law, tearing or damaging ballot papers is punishable with a jail term of up to five years and a fine.

Chaiyan, a lecturer of political science at Chulalongkorn for 14 years and head of the university's department of government, with a PhD from the London School of Economics and a master's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin, says his act of civil disobedience was carefully thought out.

"Yes, I spent more than a month pondering such an act. The February 24 House dissolution was the trigger, because I believed the dissolution was grossly illegitimate.

"At issue was caretaker premier Thaksin, not the House, so the latter should not have been the victim just to solve one man's personal problems. By calling the snap polls, Thaksin made the April 2 election like a national referendum on his leadership, which violates Article 214 of the Constitution.

"Under this article, a referendum can only be called to determine the fate of public policies deemed very important to national interests," Chaiyaporn says.

"Second, the election date was very close since it was called abruptly, so election authorities got only about 30 days to prepare themselves. I wasn't sure the polls would be really transparent and fair.

"Third, the Election Commission has not acted independently as required by the Constitution. This was evidenced by its failure to thoroughly check the qualifications of MP candidates from the so-called 'nominee' political parties in the wake of a boycott by the three former opposition parties.

"Fourth, the caretaker premier himself broke the election law by making illegal pledges during rallies, such as promising before state teacher groups and other voters that he would increase their salaries and/or give them certain benefits if the ruling party returned to power," he says.

All these reasons have been cited in defence of Chaiyan's action as police and state prosecutors gather evidence to decide if a criminal charge will be filed with the court against him.

Chaiyan, who was temporarily released from police custody on his own cognisance, expects authorities to make a final decision on his case within a month.

Should the case reach court, Chaiyan and his lawyers will likely invoke Article 65 of the Constitution in his defence. The article, which Chaiyan had printed on a placard that his son held up while he tore his ballot papers, allows citizens the right to peacefully resist any attempt to seek power unconstitutionally.

Chaiyan says he earlier considered a number of options other than tearing up his ballot papers, but found that none of them would really ensure that his basic democratic right would not be infringed upon.

"For instance, I could have just stayed home. But then I couldn't be sure that my right wouldn't be abused by unscrupulous persons who could forge my signature to vote on my behalf. "Another option was to tick the 'No Vote' box, but I think that choice wasn't secure either since my ballot paper might not be around at the time of counting.

"Besides these options, I was told I should draw a funny cartoon on the ballot paper [to make my point], even though that would make the ballot invalid.

"If I was to go for this choice, I wanted to be sure that my ballot would not disappear after I put it into the box. That wouldn't be physically possible since I would have had to watch those boxes around the clock until they were all counted," he says

After reviewing all the choices, Chaiyan finally decided that tearing the ballot paper in front of election officials and witnesses after ticking the "No Vote" box would be a safer way to preserve his vote, even though he would be held by police for breaking the election law.

Chaiyan says that if the case goes to trial, he will likely tell the court that he couldn't find a better solution and point out that he complied fully with all election rules prior to the final act of tearing the ballot.

However, he does not encourage similar protests in future elections. "It's something that I wouldn't like anyone to copy," he says.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

nop1122@yahoo.com