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conditions stipulated for candidates to the Senate (elections are scheduled for 4 March 2000)
or not. An earlier booklet published by an ECT-member. as well as an article in the ECT's own
newsletter. confirmed that the transitory provisions of the constitution meant that present

senators and MPs were exempt from the criteria laid down in articles 125 and 126. The
statements in both bublications were based on transitory provision 315 IV which says that
certain conditions in the aforementioned articles do not apply to present senators and MPs.
However. as it turned out. the ECT could not agree on this interpretaion. Instead. they
transferred their internal problem to the Constitution Court by asking it for a decision. As had
to be expected. the court rejected this request arguing that no regulation had been issued so
far. and so no legal case existed yet on which the court would be entitled to rule. Accordingly.

the ECT issued its regulation excluding sitting senators and MPs from running in the elections
to the Senate. Of course. incumbents did not like this. Incumbent MPs. therefore. called on the
Constitution Court to interpret whether the ECT's regulation violated their constitutional
rights. basing the case on the existence of the transitory clause mentioned above. As expected. the
court ruled in favor of the incumbents. Now a group of senators want to enjoy the same right.

As far as the external relations of the ECT are concerned. they find it obviously
difficult to obtain the amount of funds they think they need for their work. As mentioned
above. the government is constitutionally mandated to allocate an 'adequate' budget. Under-

standably. the government and the ECT seem to have different ideas about what amount of
money constitutes an 'adequate' budget. Moreover. permanent staff has been in short supply.
Many people currently working for the ECT/PECs have been borrowed from government
agencies (For a maximum of two years). Many have already returned to their previous offices
because they would like to pursue their careers in bigger organizations. and because they are
afraid of losing their pension rights.

Now. we come to talk about the ECT's provincial branches. that is the Provincial
Election Commissions. From a Bangkok-centered perspective. it is often overlooked that the
Election Commission of Thailand consists of only five members and has its central office in
Bangkok. Despite the centralization of authority the bulk of the ECT's work is to be found in
the provinces. Voter lists have to be checked. polling stations have to be identified. equipped.
and supervised. polling station committees have to be recruited and trained. and the central
place for vote-counting in MP elections has to be determined and organized. including the

transport of the sealed ballot boxes from the polling stations to the counting station. etc., etc.
For this work-which is essential for the conduct of successful elections-Provincial Election.

Commissions (PEC) were appointed by the ECT soon after it came into being.4

4 Their term of office is six years. just as that of the ECT. Also, both the ECT's and the PECs'
initial term is limited to three years. Unlike the ECT. whose members can be appointed again. however, the
provincial commission members will have to leave their offices. and new PECs will have to be selected and
appointed.