The Election Commission (EC) threw out a petition seeking a court ruling on the tenure of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday in a decision that riled critics.
The EC said it decided to drop the petition asking the poll-organising agency to seek the ruling of the Constitution Court on the term of office of the prime minister.
Political activist Srisuwan Janya submitted the petition to the EC on Aug 5 in an attempt to end the ambiguity of the case with the court. His move was in parallel with the opposition who pushed the issue through the parliamentary channel.
The secretariat of the House of Representatives on Monday sent the petition of the opposition camp to the court by hand. The court is expected to rule on Wednesday whether it would take up the case for consideration.
The EC announced hours later that the agency saw no need to go forward on the petition of Mr Srisuwan, saying the matter had been submitted to the court by a group of MPs.
Mr Srisuwan criticised the EC for failing to perform its duty and instead passing the buck to the lawmakers.
He also accused the agency of dragging its feet.
Mr Srisuwan threatened to file a complaint against the EC with the National Anti-Corruption Commission on the grounds of dereliction of duty.
"This issue is not over yet," he posted in his Facebook account.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, a former Bangkok gubernatorial candidate from the Move Forward Party, said the EC decision underlined suspicions regarding the independence of the agency and other organisations whose members were linked with the coup-making body.
A prime minister cannot be in office for more than eight years under the present constitution.
The opposition camp and opponents of Gen Prayut believe the first day of the eight-year tenure he is limited to by the constitution was Aug 24, 2014, when he was installed as prime minister under an interim constitution after the military seized power.
His supporters argue that Gen Prayut's first day was June 9, 2019, after the present charter came into force in 2017.
