NACC claims last word on leniency for Yongyuth

The Interior Ministry’s decision to grant leniency to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit regarding a disciplinary action is not final but subject to approval by the National Anti-Corruption Commission, NACC member Wicha Mahakhun said yesterday.
Wicha said the Interior Ministry’s civil service committee had yet to inform the NACC formally of its action against Yongyuth, and the commission is empowered by Article 95 of the NACC Act to approve or veto such a decision by the ministerial committee.
Wicha said the ministry was required by the act to submit its decision to the NACC within 15 days.
On September 20, the civil service committee resolved to “expel” Yongyuth, a former permanent secretary of the ministry, after the NACC decided to indict him for unlawfully certifying as legal the 2002 sale of a 732-rai (117-hectare) land plot owned by a foundation representing Wat Thammikaram to Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club.
But the committee also cited an opinion from the Council of State saying Yongyuth was qualified to benefit from the 2007 Exoneration Act, which affords some leniency to people convicted of a crime or disciplinary violation if they have never committed the crime before.
Meanwhile, an anti-corruption network headed by Mongkolkit Suksintharnon called on the national Ombudsman for an investigation into Yongyuth’s qualification for exoneration.
The network said Yongyuth was not eligible for leniency under the Exoneration Act and should be disqualified as an MP and Cabinet member.
According to the Constitution, a person who has been dismissed from government service or a state enterprise is prohibited from becoming an MP or a minister.
But Yongyuth yesterday vowed to chair today’s weekly Cabinet meeting despite growing calls for him to resign. He insisted that he had been assigned that duty by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who had definitely considered the laws and was confident he was qualified to chair the meeting.
He said he would not talk about the Exoneration Act himself but reporters should ask for opinions from the Council of State.
Yongyuth said he was not worried by the opposition’s plan to seek a ruling from the Constitution Court on his qualifications after the civil service committee’s decision to expel him retroactively.
Yongyuth said today’s Cabinet meeting would also consider a reshuffle of provincial governors.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said the Council of State had given an opinion that disciplinary punishment had to be carried out on the date the wrongdoing occurred. In Yongyuth’s case, the incident happened in 2002, so Yongyuth should benefit from the 2007 Exoneration Act, Chalerm said.
He said the government had to adhere to the opinion of the Council of State and the Cabinet meeting would have to be chaired by Yongyuth as assigned by Yingluck, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said Yingluck had assigned Yongyuth to be acting prime minister on her behalf.
Pongthep Thepthepkanchana, a legal expert with the Pheu Thai Party, said the government had no choice but to heed the opinion of the Council of State regarding Yongyuth’s qualifications for exemption.
Pongthep said that if the Election Commission, MPs and senators disagreed with the Council of State, they could seek a ruling from the Constitution Court.
Also yesterday, Komsan Phokong, a lecturer of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said Yongyuth should not benefit from the Exoneration Act because he was still considered innocent in 2007 and his punishment had been handed down only this year.
Komsan said one-tenth of MPs or one-tenth of senators could invoke Article 91 of the Constitution to seek a Constitution Court ruling on Yongyuth’s qualifications.
Former senator Chirmsak Pinthong, meanwhile, has raised the question of conflict of interest in the Interior Ministry’s civil service committee regarding Yongyuth’s case.
Chirmsak said in an article in Naew Na newspaper that the committee was headed by Deputy Interior Minister Choochart Harnsawas and the Harnsawas family had shares in the Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club.