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Published on September 5, 2007

The memorandum, for European observers to monitor the election in December, will be discussed by the EU and Election Commission (EC) tomorrow.

"The draft MoU shows no respect for [Thai] sovereignty and fails to accord due honour to Thailand," the Law Society said in a statement.

It reminded the EC that a hasty signing of the MoU might violate a provision of the 2007 Constitution requiring a prior Parliamentary approval for any agreement infringing on sovereignty or borders.

Many MoU provisions were "unacceptable", the Law Society said, such as a guarantee for the EU to access every step of supervision of balloting.

It said the country already had guidelines for foreign observers to monitor the electoral process and that the EU could observe the elections without having to sign an MoU.

Justice Ministry permanent secretary Charan Phakdithana-kul wryly said if the EC entered into an agreement with the EU, this might pave way for Thai officials to monitor European elections.

The Nation