Election commisioners jailed — in Thailand
The Nation newspaper. Thailand
BANGKOK — Today’s papers scream with the astounding news that rocked this city yesterday: three election commissioners accused of malfeasance have been jailed, after being sentenced to four years imprisonment by the Criminal Court.
It was a spectacle never before seen in Thai, or for that matter, Philippine politics. Last night, the three top officials of the Election Commission (EC) were hauled off to Bangkok’s Klong Prem jail just hours after their sentencing. They will now likely be forced to vacate their posts, paving the way for their replacement just two-and-a-half months before new parliamentary elections will be held.
For sure, many Filipinos are probably wishing they can see that kind of swift justice in their own country. After all, the ruling of the Thai Criminal Court sounds like it could apply to our own scandal-wracked Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“The three commissioners are senior figures who should know that their office is vital for the development of democratic rule,” the EC decision read. “[But they] have stubbornly pursued their way even after the people and political parties lost trust in them.”
The ruling, which also barred the three officials from voting for 10 years, continued: “This court suspects the three of putting their own interests before those of the nation and fears they will inflict more damage if set free.”
The commissioners have been accused of bending the rules to favor the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai Party in last April’s parliamentary elections. Much like our own Comelec commissioners, the EC officials had stubbornly clung to their posts despite widespread dissatisfaction with their handling of the polling and calls for their resignation by opposition parties and civil society groups.
Yesterday’s surprise ruling offers Thais a way out of the current political crisis. It also demonstrates the independence of the Criminal Court and allows democratic institutions to resolve the impasse, a remarkable contrast to the Philippines, where the justice system still has to hold a controversy-wracked Comelec to account.
Election commisioners jailed — in Thailand
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