Thailand Parliamentary Elections Monitoring & Observation 2007/ 2008

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) will observe re-elections in Thailand issued after candidates were disqualified for election violations by the Election Commission of Thailand.

Beginning in Nakhon Ratchasima on Sunday, ANFREL observers will observe a sample of the re-elections that will be held, including those in Buri Ram scheduled for next week.

“In this sensitive political context when a government has yet to form, re-elections must be well administered and their results are accepted by all election stakeholders,” said Ichal Supriadi, ANFREL’s Mission Coordinator.

Regarding cases of election violations still under investigation, ANFREL encourages the Election Commission to be open in their rulings and inform the public of their decision making in detail. All yellow and red cards must be considered and awarded in a just manner.

“To build trust with the public, the ECT should publish written rulings on each case on their website. Though some information from investigations is obviously sensitive, the ECT should proactively release as much as evidence as possible to the public so that their rulings can be more easily scrutinized.

“All candidates are urged to refrain from committing election violations to ensure a smooth and credible election. Repeated vote buying risks creating further re-elections which would alienate voters and delay the opening of Parliament,” concluded Supriadi.

Notes for editors:

1. • ANFREL deployed 37 international election observers for the Thai elections. For ANFREL’s post-election and pre-election reports, see www.anfrel.org

2. • For Thai enquiries please contact Somsri Hananuntasuk (Executive Director) on 081 810 5306. For English enquiries please contact Ichal Supriadi (Mission Coordinator) on 085 822 9002, or Adam Cooper (Media Officer / Mission Assistant) on 081 849 2278