A member of the Seri Ruam Thai Party on Friday demanded the Election Commission (EC) clarify why it dropped his petition seeking a probe into whether the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party's general assembly was in violation of the election law.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, the party's policy steering chairman, and Veera Somkwamkid, chairman of its anti-corruption strategy, submitted the petition, along with video clips, last month following a Jan 9 event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha officially joined the UTN.
The petition claimed the UTN used more than 100 buses and passenger vans to transport people from other provinces to attend the meeting and gave them 4,000 or so items, such as T-shirts, caps and flags worth about 1 million baht. In the evening, the large crowd packed the centre.
Mr Somchai turned up at the Office of the EC on Friday to demand a better explanation after he received a letter informing him the probe could not proceed.
He said the EC claimed the issue did not warrant an investigation for a number of reasons, such as the lack of relevant details.
The EC also said he and Mr Veera were not eligible to file the petition because they were not registered voters in the area.
Mr Somchai, a former EC member, said he was not satisfied with the reasons given and wanted the poll agency to schedule a meeting with him and Mr Veera on March 3.
"We want clarity, so we're seeking a meeting next Friday. If there is no better explanation, I'll sue the EC for malfeasance," he warned.
According to Mr Somchai, he wanted to EC to look into these issues and give a ruling which would set a precedent for other political parties as they are in campaign mode with the elections only months away.
EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee told reporters that he did not have information at hand to comment on the issue.
He said he needed time to study the matter and declined to give a comment.
