The Election Commission voted 3-to-2 on Tuesday to hand a red card to House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat for electoral fraud, sending his case to the Supreme Court - and the government says, "There is still a chance".
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej called an emergency meeting of People Power party executives to discuss the case.
Mr Yongyuth, a list-MP for Zone 1 covering his native Chiang Rai and other provinces in the upper North, was found to have bribed local tambon and village officials in Chiang Rai to campaign for votes for the People Power party in the general election. He was a deputy leader of the PPP at the time.
He has denied the charges repeatedly.
In the worst-case scenario for Mr Yongyuth and the government:
Mr Yongyuth will be stripped of his seat in parliament and speaker's position.
He could then be barred from politics for five years.
If the PPP is found to have been involved or complicit in his offence, the party could be dissolved.
At any step, however, the process can be halted by the Supreme Court in Mr Yongyuth's case, or by the Constitutional Court in the case of the PPP.
The EC no longer has power to actually do any of this. It can only recommend a course of action to the Supreme Court.
Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, Choosak Sirinil, also the PPP’s legal consultant, said there is still hope for Mr Yongyuth as the ECs 3-2 vote in favour of red-carding him was not a unanimous decision.
“There is still a chance for Mr Yongyuth to defend himself. It’s all up to the Supreme Court. The PPP will also set up its own legal team to help Mr Yongyuth fight the case,” he said.
At the Stock Exchange of Thailand, there was mild panic over the possible maximum penalty, with investors fearing for the very fate of the government.
Stock prices dropped 10.76 points in a heartbeat, and wound up more than 11 points down on the day.
EC spokesman Raungroj Jomsueb said the commission split but ruled 3-to-2 that Mr Yongyuth was guilty of vote-buying in Chiang Rai province before the Dec 23 elections. Details of the charge were known for weeks, but the EC took extra time to try to hear all possible witnesses.
The next step: The EC forwards its findings to the Supreme Court within 15 days. If the Supreme Court so much as agrees to hear the case, Mr Yongyuth will have to stop working in parliament - he is not allowed to wait for the verdict.
If the Supreme Court upholds the split EC decision that Mr Yongyuth is guilty, the speaker will have to resign completely from parliament. The case then would go to the Constitutional Court, which would rule on whether to disband the entire PPP.
If that happened, the country would be in uncharted constitutional waters.
The current supreme law allows formation of new political parties, and also allows elected MPs to switch parties, a course that PPP members might take if their party is dissolved. But nothing would be certain, and that is why investors were spooked on Tuesday by the Yongyuth case.
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Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej called an emergency meeting of People Power party executives to discuss the case.
Mr Yongyuth, a list-MP for Zone 1 covering his native Chiang Rai and other provinces in the upper North, was found to have bribed local tambon and village officials in Chiang Rai to campaign for votes for the People Power party in the general election. He was a deputy leader of the PPP at the time.
He has denied the charges repeatedly.
In the worst-case scenario for Mr Yongyuth and the government:
Mr Yongyuth will be stripped of his seat in parliament and speaker's position.
He could then be barred from politics for five years.
If the PPP is found to have been involved or complicit in his offence, the party could be dissolved.
At any step, however, the process can be halted by the Supreme Court in Mr Yongyuth's case, or by the Constitutional Court in the case of the PPP.
The EC no longer has power to actually do any of this. It can only recommend a course of action to the Supreme Court.
Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, Choosak Sirinil, also the PPP’s legal consultant, said there is still hope for Mr Yongyuth as the ECs 3-2 vote in favour of red-carding him was not a unanimous decision.
“There is still a chance for Mr Yongyuth to defend himself. It’s all up to the Supreme Court. The PPP will also set up its own legal team to help Mr Yongyuth fight the case,” he said.
At the Stock Exchange of Thailand, there was mild panic over the possible maximum penalty, with investors fearing for the very fate of the government.
Stock prices dropped 10.76 points in a heartbeat, and wound up more than 11 points down on the day.
EC spokesman Raungroj Jomsueb said the commission split but ruled 3-to-2 that Mr Yongyuth was guilty of vote-buying in Chiang Rai province before the Dec 23 elections. Details of the charge were known for weeks, but the EC took extra time to try to hear all possible witnesses.
The next step: The EC forwards its findings to the Supreme Court within 15 days. If the Supreme Court so much as agrees to hear the case, Mr Yongyuth will have to stop working in parliament - he is not allowed to wait for the verdict.
If the Supreme Court upholds the split EC decision that Mr Yongyuth is guilty, the speaker will have to resign completely from parliament. The case then would go to the Constitutional Court, which would rule on whether to disband the entire PPP.
If that happened, the country would be in uncharted constitutional waters.
The current supreme law allows formation of new political parties, and also allows elected MPs to switch parties, a course that PPP members might take if their party is dissolved. But nothing would be certain, and that is why investors were spooked on Tuesday by the Yongyuth case.
Discuss
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