Election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn on Wednesday criticised draft amendments to laws governing local elections, saying key issues including election campaign rules were left untouched.
Mr Somchai said the proposed amendments, forwarded by the Council of State to the Election Commission (EC) for feedback, mainly dealt with bringing the qualifications of voters and election candidates into line with stricter rules in the charter.
He said the draft amendments stopped short of addressing other key elements which needed to be tackled to comply with the new organic laws on the EC and the elections of MPs.
Among them were election campaign rules, he said. While the organic bill on the election of MPs seeks to tighten regulations to ensure campaigns proceed in an orderly fashion and are less costly, the draft amendments did not address this.
He said the draft amendments also lacked effective mechanisms to prevent current office-holders from exploiting their positions to gain an advantage over their political opponents.
Mr Somchai also voiced frustration over the role of election inspectors, a post newly introduced by the constitution for local elections, saying it must be clearly established whether election inspectors can help the EC organise local polls.
"It must be spelled out in the law if election inspectors have a part to play in holding local elections. It only vaguely says the EC can use these inspectors to support its work in organising local polls," he said.
Mr Somchai called on those involved in the amendment process to do a better job.
"I think there are more than 50 provisions that need amending. If they want to amend the laws, they should do it properly," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the draft amendments to local elections laws would be forwarded to the cabinet next month and to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) early next year.
However, he said he could not say how long the whole process would take because six laws were involved and that there was no time frame for the amendments.
According to Mr Wissanu, the NLA would appoint a panel to study the amendment issue and how the scrutiny period could be shortened. He said local elections and the general election, expected at the end of next year, would not take place simultaneously, to avoid confusing voters.
Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda said the ministry was also working on amendments to laws on the election of local administration organisations.
He said suggestions made by the defunct National Reform Steering Assembly would be used to improve the laws on local elections and noted that electing provincial administration organisations were likely to take place before other polls.
There are elections for several types of local councils and local executives including the provincial administration organisations, tambon administration organisations and thessaban municipalities.
Sutthipong Chulacharoen, head of the Department of Local Administration, noted that while it remains undecided which local polls would be held first, the first could be held within 45 days of the amendments coming into force.
