No objection to nationwide vote recount if done legally - PM

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said last night that he, as leader of the Bhumjaithai party, does not have any problem if the Election Commission wants to order recounts in all constituencies, as long as it is done in accordance with the law.

He said that the Election Commission has the sole authority to decide whether to order a recount in all constituencies, or selective recounts in constituencies where there are suspicions of vote rigging, and that the government cannot intervene.

He also said that his government is still functioning in a caretaker capacity, until the EC has announced the official election results.

The prime minister was speaking in Prachin Buri, amidst increasing calls from voters and some failed candidates, including the ‘United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration’ (UFTD) or the ‘Three-Finger’, movement which was active between 2020 and 2022.

About 300 people converged in front of the district office of Suphan Buri last night to pressure provincial election officials to order a recount in five constituencies in the province, as they suspect that the election had been rigged.

In Bangkok yesterday, a group of people, mostly young, rallied in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, to protest against the Election Commission and to demand nationwide recounts of election votes in all constituencies.

The rally was in response to a call by the UFTD in its Facebook post to converge at the gallery at 5pm, to express their opinions of the EC and its management of vote counts.

The UFTD came to public attention on August 10, 2020, when it made a controversial announcement at a rally held in the Rangsit campus of Thammasat University, calling for revocation of the lèse majesté law and reform of the monarchy, which was seen as a direct threat to Thailand’s democratic system with the King as the head of state.

The movement has faded from the public radar since the COVID outbreak between 2019 and 2022 and after several of its leaders, among them Anon Nampa, Parit Chiwarak, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul and Panupong Jadnok, had been jailed on lèse majesté charges or sought political refuge overseas.