The Election Commission (EC) will continue to probe former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's alleged manipulation of the Pheu Thai Party and interference in the coalition government, even after the Constitutional Court ruled to reject a petition claiming Thaksin and the ruling party had tried to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, said the EC.
"Even though these matters concern the same facts [about Thaksin's actions], the EC and the court use different laws in the handling of these petitions against Thaksin," EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said on Saturday.
He was asked why the EC continues to probe Thaksin's alleged misconduct after the court on Friday decided to dismiss the petition lodged with it over Thaksin's alleged involvement in politics.
The court based its judgement on whether Thaksin and Pheu Thai had violated Section 49 of the constitution, which covers misconduct and claims of whether they exercised their rights and liberties in a manner deemed as attempting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, Mr Sawang said.
The EC, on the other hand, is looking into petitions received over the Pheu Thai Party's alleged violation of the organic law on parties, which prohibits a party from consenting to being manipulated or interfered with by an outsider, which in this case is alleged to be Thaksin, said Mr Sawang.
He highlighted the difference by giving an example in which the EC had rejected a petition against the now-defunct Move Forward Party (MFP), while a similar petition made its way to the court.
The case concerned the MFP's abuse of its rights and liberties in a manner deemed as attempting to overthrow the democratic regime of government with the King as head of state, which the EC actually has no authority to examine, he said.
Despite being spared the legal hurdle attached to the petition which was dismissed by the court on Friday, Thaksin still faces at least two other cases: one being handled by the EC and the other by the Criminal Court.
In the first case, Pheu Thai and its former coalition parties in the Srettha Thavisin administration could end up being disbanded if they are proven to have consented to Thaksin's alleged interference and manipulation, a violation of Section 29 of the organic law on parties.
The primary allegation of undue political influence relates to Pheu Thai and present and former coalition parties members meeting Thaksin at his Chan Song La residence in Bangkok on the day Mr Srettha was dismissed as prime minister by the Constitutional Court on Aug 14.
During that meeting, coalition parties members and Thaksin discussed possible replacements for Mr Srettha.
Thaksin also reportedly intervened in the selection of a prime ministerial candidate after Mr Srettha was removed from office.
Among the other pieces of evidence submitted to back the allegations are Thaksin's interviews given on several occasions about Pheu Thai's policies and the policies of the coalition, a number of which were mentioned by Thaksin at the high-profile forum on Aug 22 before they were actually adopted by the coalition.
The other case faced by the former prime minister concerns his alleged violation of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, better known as the lese majeste law. In this case, Thaksin stands accused of violating the law by giving an interview with a news agency in Seoul in 2015 in a manner deemed hostile to the monarchy.
In another development, Pheu Thai's legal team says it will file a counter suit against lawyer Teerayut Suwankesorn who lodged the case which the court threw out on Friday.
