JURIST - Paper Chase: Thailand prime minister denies party election fraud allegations

[JURIST] Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [official profile; BBC profile] has said in a television broadcast that his Thai Rak Thai party [party website; Wikipedia backgrounder] is innocent of election fraud allegedly committed in an abortive general election this spring. Prosecutors, acting on a unanimous recommendation [JURIST report] by an investigative committee, are expected to ask Thailand's Constitutional Court [official website] on Thursday to dissolve Thai Rak Thai, the opposition Democrats [party website] and three smaller political parties because of irregularities in the April vote [JURIST report]. Legal analysts, however, view such a move as unlikely because it would destabilize the Thai government.

The Constitutional Court annulled the elections [JURIST report] in early May, and Thailand's three principal courts have repeatedly called for the Election Commission to resign [JURIST report] over the election problems. A new election [JURIST report] is scheduled for Oct. 15, but Thaksin said it could be delayed because of the political turmoil. AFP has more. The Bangkok Post has local coverage.

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