NACC moves forward to investigate ethics case of “Settha”, preparing to select Constitutional Court’s ruling to assemble the case file. Don’t look at it as a repeat of the bad karma. Politicians are ready to be investigated.
Mr. Niwatchai Kasem Mongkol, Secretary-General of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, spoke about the case in which the Constitutional Court ruled that Mr. Settha Thavisin was removed from the position of Prime Minister due to his lack of qualifications and lack of honesty, as evidenced by the nomination of Mr. Pichit Chuenban as Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, that this case is a case in which there is a complaint about ethical standards at the NACC level as well, which is currently under fact-checking, similar to the case of 44 former Move Forward Party MPs who signed a petition to propose a draft law to amend Section 112. When the Constitutional Court has made a ruling, the NACC will have to request a copy of the ruling to be used in the NACC’s consideration. However, th
e NACC has not yet conducted an investigation because it has to wait for the ruling first, which is considered one of the elements in the NACC’s consideration. As for whether it will be expedited or not, it is up to the committee. I will not interfere.
The NACC Secretary-General believes that even though Mr. Settha has left his position, it is not an obstacle or a difficulty in investigating, and he thinks that Mr. Settha is already listed, just like what he explained to the Constitutional Court. As for the investigation period, it depends on the facts. In some cases, we can investigate within 1 year because the NACC must consider whether the ethics case is serious or not before sending it to the Supreme Court according to the law. He insists that the NACC is not slow and has been investigating the facts all the time. However, since there was a petition to the Constitutional Court, the consideration must go step by step because if the NACC makes a decision first and the Constitutional Court makes a different
decision, the result will be the opposite. Therefore, everything must be taken into consideration before making a decision because the court is considered the highest organization.
The NACC Secretary-General also said that in this case, the NACC will have to look at the established ethical standards and interpret them because there is no law that clearly states this. Therefore, it must be seen which section of the Code of Ethics for Political Office Holders falls under it and whether it is a serious ethical issue.
‘Don’t think of it as a repeated slam because it must be based on the facts. When you enter a position as a government official and hold a political position, there is a chance that the public and government agencies that are responsible for inspection will be the ones to investigate. This means that everyone is ready to be investigated when they step in,’ said Mr. Niwatchai.
As for other cases involving Mr. Settha, such as the case of the improper appointment of the national police chief, Mr. Ni
watchai said that it was under further investigation after a proposal was submitted for an investigation. However, the NACC meeting saw that since the prime minister was a high-ranking executive at the national level, the process had to be thorough and clear before being submitted to the committee level. Therefore, since it was still unclear, further investigation was conducted on legal issues. -314.
Source: Thai News Agency