The Office of the Election Commission is expected to hold a by-election in Constituency 5 of Nakhon Pathom province on Sunday October 20 to find a replacement for Mrs. Jumpita Chantharakachorn, a constituency MP for the Future Forward party, who resigned due to health problems following a road accident.
According to the Constitution, a by-election must be held within 45 days of a House seat being vacated. Mrs. Jumpita’s resignation was on September 10.
Future Forward secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said Mrs. Jumpita had quit her parliamentary membership because her health might make it impossible for her to perform her parliamentary duties.
He added that the MP had not been sworn in, attended any parliamentary meetings or received any pay from parliament.
The party’s legal advisors submitted Mrs. Jumpita’s resignation letter to the Office of the Election Commission on Tuesday.
Piyabutr also added that party leader, Mr. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, will meet with party members in Nakhon Pathom this weekend to discuss the selection of a candidate to contest the by-election.
An informed EC source, meanwhile, said that the by-election would not lead to a recalculation of the allocation of party-list MPs because the need for a by-election did not stem from election fraud.
