Bangkok: Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former Election Commissioner, has unveiled the minutes from the 36th meeting of the Sub-Committee on Adjudication in the Senate election collusion case. He highlighted the committee's lack of rigorous questioning and criticized the legal framework as distorted, suggesting it was designed to shield politicians and influential figures from prosecution.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Somchai scrutinized the 36th Sub-Committee's operations, which were formed by the Election Commission to address concerns over potential overload or lack of expertise in the previous 35 sub-committees. However, he pointed out that many of the 36th sub-committee members were also part of the earlier committees and showed limited engagement, raising questions about the committee's legitimacy.
Mr. Somchai disclosed that he was not the sole recipient of the documents from Subcommittee 36 and expressed his intention to await the Election Commission's ruling on September 14th. He anticipated that if the ruling were fair and impartial, the documents would remain confidential. Otherwise, he believed the matter would persist, as the documents revealed potential offenders and their connections to political figures, MPs, and party executives.
Furthermore, Mr. Somchai noted that Subcommittee 36 convenes twice weekly, with the Election Commission's secretariat team summarizing findings from the 26th Central Investigation Committee. He observed that the secretariat often dominated the meetings, with minimal input from committee members, leading to resolutions that merely acknowledged the secretariat's explanations.
The subcommittee comprises seven members and a nine-member secretariat. Mr. Somchai reported that Mr. Chaowana Traimas chairs the subcommittee, yet Mr. Anucha Chansuriya significantly influences the meetings. He recounted a particular discussion about an influential figure in Buriram, where the subcommittee debated the relevance of including this individual in the investigation.
Mr. Somchai criticized Mr. Anucha's legal framework, suggesting it could either lead to robust judgments or allow guilty parties to evade punishment. He found it problematic that the framework restricted politicians from involving themselves in the Senate collusion process while candidates were barred from receiving external assistance.
He challenged the Election Commission to justify the framework's correctness, arguing that it implied no political faction's involvement in corrupt processes. Mr. Somchai declared the need for the Election Commission to provide clarification on these matters.
Lastly, Mr. Somchai mentioned the potential for a court request to review the minutes of Subcommittee No. 36's final meeting on February 24, 2026. This review would examine individual rulings and reasons given by subcommittee members, potentially holding them accountable for dismissing the petition by initially interpreting the law in a distorted manner.