BANGKOK, Thailand, (AP) — The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered revotes in 62 districts and barred the incoming ruling party from contesting four of them for cheating in the Jan. 6 general elections.
The commission also confirmed the expected victory of Thai Rak Thai, the 2-year-old party of telecom tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra that defeated the well-established Democrats party of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.
The revotes and disqualifications sharply reduced Thai Rak Thai's victory margin.
Out of the 62 winning candidates ordered to face re-election for suspected fraud, 32 were from Thai Rak Thai, seven fromthe Democrats and the rest from smaller parties.
Thai Rak Thai officials said the re-elections, set for Jan. 29, may be a blessing in disguise.
"It looks like we can expect to win at least another 38 seats out of the 62," Pongpol Adireksarn, Thai Rak Thai's chief campaign manager, said.
Also Tuesday, the Election Commission gave "red cards" to five of the 32 Thai Rak Thai candidates, meaning it recommended their outright disqualification. But in a swift ruling, the Council of State, Thailand's highest legal advisory body, upheld the "red cards" for four candidates, officials said.
This means Thai Rak Thai will be barred from fielding candidates for the re-elections in the four constituencies.
Election Commissioner Yuwarat Kamolwej said Thai Rak Thai won 176 of the 338 seats for which results were final. Its nearest rival, the ruling Democrats, won 90 seats, Yuwarat said.
Three Thai Rak Thai allies won 59 seats altogether — 19 by New Aspiration Party, 30 by Chart Thai and 10 by Seritham. The remaining 13 seats were won by two smaller parties.
The results account for the voting held in 400 constituencies. The remaining 100 seats will be filled by nominees of parties based on their percentage of the national vote, which can't be determined until the revotes.
The 62 re-elections were ordered after the commission interrogated 113 winning candidates in recent weeks, including 55 from Thai Rak Thai and 18 from the Democrats who were accused of cheating during the elections.
Most of the punished candidates were given "yellow cards," meaning their victories were nullified but they were allowed to run in the revote.
The Jan. 6 general election was the first held under tough new rules to combat vote-buying that has been rampant in previous polls in Thailand's developing democracy.
The commission is struggling to validate the final results by Feb. 5, by which time the constitution says Parliament must be ready to convene.
In a related development, police in southern Thailand arrested the son of a candidate elected in this month's general election after he fired a gun at a rival supporter, officials said Tuesday.
Suthiwut Masdit, 30, was arrested late Monday and charged with attempted murder and possessing an illegal firearm, police said.