Court rules Thailand's Feb 2 general election invalid

BANGKOK, March 21 (TNA) - The Constitution Court has ruled that Thailand's general election on February 2, 2014 was against the 2007 Constitution and was, thus, invalid. Constitution Court judges voted 6:3 to nullify the February 2 general election on Friday, in favor of the Office of the Ombudsman, reasoning that the national poll could not be held in one day as stipulated in the 2007 Charter. The Office of the Ombudsman earlier filed the case with the Constitution Court, seeking the court's verdict against the validity of the February 2 general election, citing that anti-government protesters' blockages of candidates' registrations in 28 constituencies in the Thai South, out of a total of 375 ones nationwide, causing the February 2 national poll could not be finished in a single day as required by the Constitution. The Constitution Court then ordered the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) to discuss with the caretaker government on the new general election date. On March 19, the court listened to testimonies on the case by Ombudsman Pornphet Wichitcholchai, EC Chairman Supachai Somcharoen and Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana. Security measures were stepped up at the Constitutional Court and the compound of the central government complex, where the court stands, as well as at the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence, where Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and government legal experts were waiting for the court's ruling, while a Constitutional Court judge, Jarun Pukditanakul, arrived at the court calmly and did not speak to reporters, after a grenade was fired near his resident in the capital on Thursday night, but he was reportedly concerned over those injured and affected in the incident and he would take special precautions. Meanwhile, an election commissioner, Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, told journalsits that the EC will hold talks with the caretaker government on the issuance of a new royal decree on the setting up of the new election date within 60 days, to be submitted for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's approval, as ordered by the Constitution Court, and that his election agency will also consult with political parties on the same issue. (TNA)