Surapong accused of dishonesty
Play
The Democrat Party yesterday accused incumbent Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul and ex-foreign minister Noppadon Pattama of dishonesty and unscrupulousness in regard to the issuing of a passport to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatr
Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the Foreign Ministry’s standards and credibility would be undermined by the passport issue. He called on ministry officials with confidential information regarding the matter to make disclosures, saying they would compromise their dignity if they stayed silent.
He said Surapong had lied publicly in remarks he made during an interview on December 3 on the passport issue, as the document had already been approved on October 26, one day after a request submitted by Thaksin was received by the ministry. He said Noppadon had also lied when he said Thaksin was unaware of the ministry’s attempt to reissue him a passport.
He warned that the ministry would be held responsible for bureaucratic wrongdoings in case Thaksin was aware, contrary to Noppadon’s statement, because it requires the fingerprints of the passport holder. “If the fingerprints are not Thaksin’s, whose fingerprints are on the passport?” he asked.
Chavanond said that as per the rules, a passport could not be issued to anyone wanted in a criminal case, or to someone on an arrest warrant or a blacklist barring travel abroad – all the stipulations apply to Thaksin, he said.
He also called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to take responsibility for Surapong’s action, and warned that if she refused to, the passport issue would mark the beginning of the end for the Pheu Thai-led government.
