Phuket EC not enrolling MP candidates by mail, yet

PHUKET: Despite an announcement by the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday that they would accept additional candidate registrations for the April MP election by mail, Phuket election officials have received no official instructions to enroll new candidates.

Anti-government protesters in Phuket blocked MP candidates from registering last December. Only one person, Jirayos Songyos of the Pheu Thai party, was able to bypass the crowd and submit his registration for District 2 (story here).

No candidates registered for Phuket’s District 1.

After a meeting with ministers and political party representatives to find solutions to election-related problems, EC officials announced a plan to accept candidate enrollment by Express Mail Service for 28 constituencies in the South (story here).

There are no MP candidates enrolled in five southern provinces; in three others, only some constituencies have candidates registered, leaving 28 constituencies with no candidates at all.

Phuket Election Commission (PEC) Director Kittipong Thiengkunakrit told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that he was aware of the plan being discussed by the EC, but had not received any official instructions to accept new candidates by mail.

“If we receive any further orders concerning MP registration, we will make an announcement,” Mr Kittipong said.

Mr Kittipong had informed the Gazette last Friday that no new candidates would be allowed to enroll in Phuket.

“We will not re-open candidate registration. According to election law, if we re-open registration, the previous election would be void, which means we would be forced to have a new national election,” he said (story here).

— Chutharat Plerin