Democrat Party lawyers ask court to dispose Bt258 mln donation case

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BANGKOK, Dec 3 - Lawyers of the Democrat Party on Thursday submitted a petition to the Constitution Court to dismiss the case involving the alleged secret donation of 258 million baht to the party, the other lawsuit the Democrat Party is facing.

Chaivat Trisunan, representative of the Democrat Party legal team, submitted the document to the Constitution Court on Dec 2 and the court accepted it for consideration.

The Democrat Party has also been accused of violating the Constitution and faces dissolution by receiving a Bt258 million donation, exceeding the legal limit, from TPI Polene Plc, one of the country's leading cement manufacturers, founded by former Matchimatipatai Party leader Prachai Leophairatana.

In the petition, the party argued that Election Commission (EC) chairman, as the political party registrar, has yet made a decision whether the ruling party was guilty but a majority of the election commissioners resolved to bring the case to court.

As a result, the lawsuit, filed by public prosecutors to the court, deemed to be incomplete as required by law and could involve a problem about legality similar to the previous one involving the party.

The ruling party on Monday survived a verdict on the alleged misuse of Bt29 million ($960,000) in political campaign funding fund case.

The six Constitution Court judges voted 4:2 to dismiss the case against the country's oldest political party, saying the filing complaint process lodged by the EC was unlawful, sparking criticism among some groups including the opposition Puea Thai Party over what they claim is a double standard.

On Monday, the Constitution Court rejected the first dissolution case against the Democrat Party on grounds the case was filed with the court after the 15-day legal deadline of learning about the alleged offence. (MCOT online news)