Key Pheu Thai members want to push Nalinee out
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A small group of key figures in the ruling Pheu Thai Party agreed yesterday to push for Nalinee Taveesin, the newly appointed Prime Minister's Office minister who is on a US blacklist, to leave office soon to avoid causing negative impact on the governme
A party source said the decision was reached at yesterday’s meeting of the politicians at the Pheu Thai headquarters.
The politicians agreed that Nalinee should step down no more than 30 days after assuming office. Some suggested that she should resign shortly after the new Cabinet members’ swearing-in ceremony with His Majesty the King on Monday, but others said that would be inappropriate, according to the source.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman agreed to look into Nalinee’s activities and
see if she has been working in accordance with the Constitution and the code of ethics, Ombudsman Pravit Ratanapian said yesterday.
A group of activists from the Green Political Group, led by Nutsur Yeema, has called on the ombudsman to study the minister’s qualifications after information of her being on a US blacklist emerged.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has included the name “Nalinee Joy Taveesin” in a blacklist for allegedly facilitating a number of financial, real-estate and gem-related transactions on behalf of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace and other Zimbabwean “specially designated nationals”.
Pravit explained that he had the authority to find out whether the minister has done anything that might have violated the Constitution or the code of ethics meant for those holding a political position.
The Green Political Group has also asked the ombudsman to investigate Deputy Agriculture Minister Nattawut Saikua, who is a key red-shirt leader.
Meanwhile, opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva is calling on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to review her decision to give Nalinee a portfolio because her status might affect the country’s image. Maybe Nalinee’s qualifications are not unconstitutional, but it may not be appropriate to have such a person in the Cabinet, he said.
“We need to find out why she got the position of a minister. Is her business in Africa connected to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who also has a lot of business there?” Abhisit asked.
Yingluck responded by saying that her government was checking facts about Nalinee being on the US blacklist, but declined to say anything when asked whether Nalinee’s position might change.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said the government needed to consider Nalinee’s qualifications in accordance with the Thai Constitution, not the laws of foreign countries.
Asked whether having her name on a blacklist would affect Nalinee’s credibility as a minister, Chalerm said Thailand has had ministers who have been part of a US blacklist before. It is a matter for the United States and has nothing to do with Thailand, he said.
