The embattled Elec-tion Commission yesterday passed the buck to the Office of the Attorney General on whether to dissolve the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party, handing over all legal documents and evidence from the Nam Yimyaem investigation to the OAG.

It did so without making any specific comment or opinion on the evidence and documents.

The Nam report - produced by an EC subcommittee - indicated that the Thai Rak Thai had violated the law by hiring small political parties to run in the April 2 election and subsequent rounds of voting.

It allegedly did this so its candidates would be able to take seats without having to win 20 per cent of the vote - the minimum required to win the seat if they had run unopposed. Attorney-General Pachara Yuthithamdamrong said his office would determine if it would forward the charges to the Constitutional Court for a final ruling.

The EC had not specified any legal grounds for dissolving the Thai Rak Thai Party so his office would have to strictly follow Sections 66 and 67 of the Political Party Act to determine whether the party violated the law and whether it should be dissolved.

Chaikasem Nithisiri, deputy chief of the OAG, was appointed to chair the committee that will examine the legal documents and other evidence from the EC. Pachara said the EC should have indicated whether the party had violated the law and whether it should be dissolved when it passed the evidence to the OAG.

"We'll send a letter to the EC to come up with a ruling first. If it didn't have one, then, we'll proceed to determine the case based on Section 63 of the Political Party Act," he said.

Section 63 bans persons or groups from engaging in unconstitutional means that may overthrow the system of democratic governance.

Legal experts said EC chairman General Vasana Puemlarp, in his capacity as chief registrar of political parties, was the only person with the authority to decide whether to propose the dissolution of a political party. Suriyasai Katasila, a leader of the anti-Thaksin movement, said he suspected the EC was trying to buy more time for the ruling party and itself. "The embattled EC should make this matter clear and straightforward sooner rather than later," Suriyasai said.

"It's very unusual in the sense that the EC did not propose any action on the Thai Rak Thai. Previously, it had a clear-cut opinion on dissolving small parties that violated the law."

Chamlong Kru-khuntod, a Thai Rak Thai executive, said that even if the EC had sent the Nam report to the OAG, it remained uncertain what actions would be taken against the party. He said the matter could be seen as wrongdoing committed solely by a key member of the party.

The Criminal Court is scheduled to decide tomorrow whether to accept a case filed by Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaug-suban.

Atthayuth Butsripoom

 The Nation