The election commissioners are facing another obstacle in their increasingly desperate bid to keep their jobs as a leading electoral watchdog plans to file a lawsuit against them next week. The People's Network for Elections in Thailand (P-Net) will file its case with either the Administrative Court or the Constitution Court - or both - by Tuesday, the group's coordinator Somchai Srisutthayakorn said yesterday.

The Election Commission's three remaining commissioners will be accused of dereliction of duty, Somchai said.

"It has become clear that the three remaining election commissioners are biased and no longer fit for the job," Somchai said.

He urged the commissioners, led by chairman Vasana Puemlarp, to resign or face removal by the court. Somchai said a quick resignation would allow their replacements to effectively prepare for the next general election.

"It's time they reconsidered their positions. They must resign," Somchai said.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday urged caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to call on the EC to resign.

"With all the [major] parties joining the campaign, I hope the deadlock will end," he said.

"It's time we end the national crisis," Abhisit added. "The EC members need to resign." Somchai said he supported Wednesday's Supreme Court decision not to help fill the two vacant Election Commission seats in order to avoid lending any legitimacy to the current commissioners, sending the clearest message so far that the commissioners must go.

Besides the three commissioners, several provincial election authorities are also politically biased, he said. He claimed that only 10 out of the 76 provincial offices were impartial, adding that new commissioners would have to resolve this crisis in confidence.

For the current commissioners to stay in their posts would deepen the political crisis, he said.

Somchai said P-Net would call a meeting in Chumphon today to finalise the lawsuit.

He vowed to continue to monitor future commissioners and said he hoped politics would return to a state of "equilibrium", where no political party is so strong that it could undermine the system of checks and balances.

Pravit Rojanaphruk,

Yossawadee Hongthong

The Nation