Thai anti-corruption body charges members of PM's party

Reuters
Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra smiles as she arrives at the Internal Security Operations Command in Bangkok January 3, 2014. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's National Counter-Corruption Commission is to press charges against 308 politicians, most from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai Party, for trying to change the constitution to make the Senate a fully elected chamber. "Altogether we will press charges against 308 lawmakers ... Prime Minister Yingluck will not be charged," Vicha Mahakun, a director of the commission, told a news conference on Tuesday. A court ruled in November that a government bill to amend the constitution was illegal but rejected an opposition request to dissolve the ruling party. Parliament was dissolved last month. It was not immediately clear whether the charges will affect the candidacy of those standing in the upcoming February 2 election. (Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Alan Raybould)