Vicha Warns Senate Collusion Threatens Democracy, Calls for Swift Action

Vicha explained that vote‑buying schemes have evolved into political collusion, where groups of politicians coordinate to fix election outcomes, especially in the Senate selection under the 2017 Constitution, which allows self‑selection and cross‑voting among professional groups without general public participation. This creates loopholes for capital and party networks to infiltrate the process by hiring individuals to run as candidates solely to block votes; these hired nominees receive money to vote as directed while abstaining from voting for themselves, and pre‑determined voting lists and off‑site gatherings are used to ensure independent candidates receive no votes at all. He warned that such manipulation destroys the system of checks and balances, because the Senate holds the ultimate authority to approve and appoint independent agencies such as the Constitutional Court, the National Anti‑Corruption Commission, and the Election Commission; if the Senate is captured through collusion, parties can dominate these oversight bodies, eroding public trust and the rule of law. Vicha urged that the matter be settled within three months, either through legislative amendment or by using the Constitutional Court’s jurisdiction, noting that in investigations by the Election Commission and the Supreme Court’s Election Division, a preponderance of credible evidence is sufficient for the court to summon documents and examine the case on its own initiative, as he had done in a previous corruption case involving a minister’s deputy. He concluded that Thai society must act quickly, because allowing the collusion to persist for six months would be too slow and would pave the way for illegitimate rulers to seize state power, ultimately replacing democracy with an unwanted dictatorship.