Election official faces legal action over Bhumjaithai Party decision
Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Sawang Boonmee may face legal action for his decision not to recommend the dissolution of the Bhumjaithai Party over allegations of unlawful donations.
Lawyer Pattharapong Supaksorn has filed a petition with the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases against the senior EC official. Pattharapong accuses Sawang of dereliction of duty, based on his decision not to advise the Constitutional Court to dissolve Bhumjaithai regarding these allegations.
On December 28, the Election Commission announced its decision not to proceed with disbanding the coalition party after a case review, citing insufficient evidence to support claims that Bhumjaithai knowingly accepted donations from illegal sources. The complaints were lodged by former parlour tycoon and politician Chuwit Kamolvisit, along with three others, invoking Section 72 of the organic law on political parties and Section 92 of the law, which prohibit parties from accepting money from unlawful sources and can be grounds for dissolution.
Bhumjaithai was accused of receiving illegal donations from Burijarearn Construction, a company allegedly owned by proxies for Saksayam Chidchob, a former transport minister under the Prayut Chan-o-cha government and the party’s former secretary-general. Saksayam was later removed from his ministerial position by the court for allegedly hiding shares in Burijarearn Construction, thus granting him control over the firm, which is prohibited by law for a Cabinet minister.
Pattharapong stated yesterday that the responsibility for deciding not to pursue the party’s dissolution lies with Sawang, who must justify his decision. He compared the case of the unlawful donation to the February 2020 dissolution of the Future Forward Party over an illegal loan from its leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. Both cases involved illegal financial sources linked to their respective parties.
Pattharapong expressed confusion over why Sawang allegedly ignored the Future Forward Party ruling. He suggested that had Sawang considered this precedent, he might have decided differently. Pattharapong believes Sawang’s failure to examine the Future Forward Party case sufficiently warrants his prosecution, reported Bangkok Post.
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