Thai ruling party looks to amend constitution

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's six-party coalition government began a bid on Monday to amend the seven-month-old military-designed constitution to try to stop any possible disbanding of its parties for breaking election laws.

Chief whip Chai Chidchob told reporters it was an "urgent matter" to amend an article in the charter that says a party must be dissolved if one of its executives is found guilty of electoral fraud.

The Supreme Court agreed last week to hear a vote fraud case against a senior member of the People Power Party (PPP), the dominant force in the coalition, although a ruling is not expected for months, maybe even years.

In the case, the Election Commission alleges that PPP deputy leader Yongyut Tiyapairat mobilised village chiefs to buy votes in the poll that returned a government openly backing former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

The EC is also deciding what to do with two other parties in the coalition after it disqualified two of their candidates for buying votes during the campaign for the Dec. 23 election.

Anti-Thaksin groups criticised the plan to change the constitution, drawn up by an army-appointed council after the coup, suggesting it could become a contentious issue.