7 ‘absentee’ legislators did not violate regulations: NLA
Seven legislators – including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s brother General Preecha – who have been accused of being frequently absent from law-deliberation meetings did not take more leave than the Constitution allowed and will not lose their National Legislative Assembly membership, the NLA insisted.
Regardless, the facts surrounding the number of meetings the seven failed to attend and whether they violated regulations will be the subject of a fact-finding meeting on Friday, said NLA vice president Peerasak Porjit.
Srisuwan Janya, an active member of civil society who made the complaint against the seven members as well as the NLA president Pornpetch Vichitcholchai and the embattled legislators, will be present at Friday’s meeting
Srisuwan accused the seven of missing more than 300 of the NLA’s 400 meetings, despite each one costing taxpayers more than Bt100,000 in salary a month.
But Peerasak dismissed the allegation, saying the NLA had way less than 400 meetings and as such it was impossible for the legislators to have missed that many meetings.
The NLA will nevertheless examine whether their actions were unethical, he added.
Pornpetch said that since the NLA was formed in 2014 it had convened only some 200 times.
He said it would have been insane for legislators to take leave nearly 400 times.