Impeach me over Thaksin passport: Surapong
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Foreign Minister Surapong Towichuk-chaikul challenged the opposition Democrat Party and Green Politics Group yesterday to push ahead with impeachment proceedings over the issuing of a passport to former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, saying the Foreign Ministry h
“If anybody wants to impeach me, go ahead. Lodge the petition with the anti-graft body and I’ll have a chance to explain and show evidence,” he said.
“It’s a political game. Ex-PM Thaksin was [just caught up in it]. All countries around the world know this, so he is welcome everywhere. Whatever passport he holds, there is no problem at all,” Surapong told reporters.
Democrat MP Wirat Kalyasiri from Songkhla said his party had submitted a petition to impeach Surapong and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to the National Anti-Corruption Commis-sion in January, but proceedings were slow.
The opposition has accused Yingluck and Surapong of misconduct after the Foreign Ministry issued a regular Thai passport to Thaksin in October last year. It said the move contravened the charter and criminal law as Thaksin was a convicted fugitive and not qualified to hold a Thai passport.
Foreign Ministry regulations prohibit the issuing of a passport to a person under an arrest warrant or who has the potential to hurt the country’s interest, Wirat said.
The Ombudsman ruled last week the issuance of a passport to Thaksin was illegal and urged the ministry and the minister to review the decision.
Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the ministry was studying the Ombuds-man’s opinion and would reply and explain legal aspects and grounds for the issuance to the Ombudsman’s office.
Wirat said the Democrats would take the Ombudsman’s decision to the anti-graft body to weigh the evidence and speed up the impeachment process.
Thaksin’s passport was cancelled in 2009 by the Democrat-led government. Then-foreign minister Kasit Piromya decided that Thaksin, who is accused of funding the red-shirt movement, could hurt Thailand from abroad.
