A Bangkok governor candidate has filed a complaint with the Bangkok Election Commission (EC) asking it to investigate the lottery draw on Saturday and whether the winning two-digit number was fixed for political purposes.
The complaint targets the drawing of the two-digit winning number “09”, which is the candidacy number of Pheu Thai Party candidate Pol Cap Pongsapat Pongcharoen.
Krit Suriyaphol, the No 20 candidate, said Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar said on a stage at the National Housing Estate in Bang Kapi that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gave him only one lucky lottery number, the number “9”.
Then the lottery result came out as “09” on Feb 16, which aroused suspicions, he said.
To add to his suspicions, the last two digits of the first prize were “57”, which is Pol Cap Pongsapat’s age.
He alleged these winning digits were fixed by the Government Lottery Office (GLO) to help the candidate.
He also pointed out that the election commission has assigned the GLO to print the election ballot papers, which may not be fair to all candidates.
Mr Krit urged the government to stop the next lottery draw, due on March 1, just two days aheand of the election on March 3.
Alternatively, the 25 Bangkok governor candidates should comprise the committee overseeing the draw, to ensure its public transparency.
Varanchai Chokechana, the No 2 candidate, also raised this issue with the EC. He asked the commission to coordinate with the GLO to allow 25 all candidates to comprise the committee for the March 1 lottery draw.
The government was accused earlier this month of fixing the lottery when the premier’s motorcade licence plate number and those of people around her matched the winning digits several times.
