People’s party urges EC not to resort to SLAPP litigation

The People’s party issued a statement today, urging the Election Commission (EC) to explain in detail to the public the use of bar and QR codes on ballot papers, rather than resorting to lawsuits in attempts to muzzle its critics. Such litigation is known as a ‘Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation’, or SLAPP.

The EC has filed complaints with the Crime Suppression Division against six individuals, including Parit Wacharasindhu, the party’s spokesman, accusing them of interfering with the election, inciting public unrest and being members of a criminal organisation for their attempts to prove that the coded ballots papers can be traced back to individual voters and for which candidates and parties they voted.

The party said in its statement that the EC has come under widespread criticism for its poor performance in managing the February 8th general election and referendum, as is evident in the exposure of numerous irregularities, such as vote count errors, discoveries of abandoned ballots in garbage, unusual delays in the announcement of poll results and the use of coded ballots.

The party said that the EC had resorted to the SLAPP approach to deal with its critics or doubters, instead of communicating with the people and explaining their actions.

The party insisted that the public and the media have the right to check the EC’s performance, to ensure transparency and its compliance with the law.