A new Election Commission (EC) has been partly chosen and will unofficially take office in 10 days. It will temporarily have five members instead of seven, the same number as the outgoing poll agency. And it will work under the same, uncontrollable handicap as the now lame-duck EC. Not only is there no election to prepare for, the military-enforced ban on political activities means the EC cannot even supervise the primaries or campaigning.
None of that is the fault of the five new commissioners. The five men were selected, then approved by majority votes of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA). Two other nominated men were rejected because they failed to win enough NLA votes. Because five is a quorum on the nominally seven-person EC, the new commission is fully qualified. NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholachai said he expects the resignations of all current EC members on his desk by July 26.
The NLA quite properly set high standards for the incoming candidates for the EC. The five new members selected last week have excellent reputations. Most importantly, none of the men has political action anywhere in his background. None among them is known to have spoken or acted in a partisan manner. That must be the first test of every EC member, if the commission is to have public trust.
