All sides try to outdo each other over Thaksin
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The government and the opposition yesterday raised a raft of issues involving former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, trying to gain political mileage by outwitting each other.
Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said a judge in the International Criminal Court had notified the opposition party that the ICC was interested in collecting evidence on the killings in connection with the “war on drugs” in 2002.
The ICC will assign a prosecutor and other officials to check evidence on the killings that occurred under the Thaksin administration, Chavanond said.
Responding to the ICC notification, Democrat MP Kasit Piromya and party secretary-general Chalermchai Sri-on will work together to collect and submit the evidence, including testimonies of victims’ surviving family members, he said.
The Democrat spokesman called on the Foreign Ministry to recall the passport issued to Thaksin as per the ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman. He said the ministry should comply with the ruling before being charged with lapse of duty.
The ruling found that the Foreign Ministry had wrongfully issued the passport after an instruction from Foreign Minister Surapong Towi-chukchaikul even though such an instruction was a breach of the ministerial regulations.
The ministry had enforced regulations since 1999 to deny a passport to a fugitive who jumped bail and was under a court-sanctioned ban to travel overseas, the ruling said.
In its defence, the ministry said it was obliged to comply with the instruction from its political overseer Surapong.
Rebutting the Ombudsman, Thaksin’s legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said he disagreed with the ruling. He said that in his opinion, the passport was issued to rectify the injustice inflicted on Thaksin under the Democrat-led government.
The previous government cancelled Thaksin’s passport without justification, he said, as an act of political vendetta without any precedents.
He went on to cast doubt on the professional integrity of the Ombudsman.
“I wonder whether the Ombud-sman is actually inspecting state affairs or just working to validate complaints against Thaksin,” he said.
The creation of the Office of Ombudsman was modelled after those in Scandinavian countries, he said. The intent of such a body is not to find fault in personal affairs or to act as a tool against political rivals, he added.
In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said he had spoken with Thaksin recently by telephone.
Thaksin is in London currently and will visit Singapore on September 23 to watch the Formula One Grand Prix, Chalerm said.
He said their conversation did not touch on politics, although Thaksin paid attention to everything happening in Thailand.
He said he did not know whether the former leader could overcome his legal wrangling and return home this year.
In regard to a suggestion by the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand for Thaksin to exit politics, he said he saw such a call as a violation of an individual’s right to political engagement.
