Revived dream of ending graft unlikely to amount to much

The sentiment welled up after Transparency International released its 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Thailand scored 37 out of 100 CPI points and was ranked 88th out of 176 countries. Last year, it got 34 pints and was 80th.
It led to a debate as to whether Thailand was on the right path when it got a higher score but a lower ranking.
Thossaporn Sirisamphan, secretary-general of the Public Sector Development Commission, which is in charge of implementing proactive measures against corruption, said yesterday that the survey results were useful.
The CPI reflected the perception towards corruption problems in Thailand. But the scores were based on surveys of perceptions of foreign businesspeople who might be haunted by their past perceptions or experiences and were not aware of the government’s measures against corruption. Thailand also chose not to seek publicity by punishing wrongdoers like other countries, he added.
Parnthep Klanarongran, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), said the results were not good at all. But the anti-graft agency did not fail in its operations because the problems were influenced by a number of factors, he said.
While the two officials in charge of fighting graft did not see corruption as becoming a serious problem, it is undeniable that fraud has become a serious cancer in society.
This was reflected through the results of an opinion survey by Suan Dusit Poll. Most of the respondents said it was a shame for Thailand to be ranked 88th and the country’s image had been tainted because of the ranking. About 45 per cent said national and local politics were the most corrupt profession.
It was not surprising to see corruption used as the main ammunition for attacking the government by the Democrat Party during the recent no-confidence debate. The Democrats used alleged corruption in the rice-pledging scheme and the alleged siphoning of flood-prevention budgets as the highlights during the censure showdown.
And it appeared that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her ministers in charge of the projects failed to clear up the opposition’s doubts.
Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat was attacked over the project to buy three patrol boats for the Navy for Bt553 million and over the second phase of renovating the HTMS Naresuan frigate.
The Democrats also attacked Deputy Interior Minister Chatt Kuldiloke over the Bt1.21-billion project to dredge the Ping, Wang, Yom, Nan, Chi, Mool and Pasak rivers. He was in charge of the project when he was a deputy transport minister.
The Democrats also filed impeachment motions against Yingluck, Sukampol and Chatt under Article 158, which requires the opposition to seek the impeachment of ministers accused of corruption.
The impeachment investigations by the NACC will be like an aftershock of the censure face-off.
The commission has set up a committee to gather information and evidence from the censure debate, and the panel will also ask for more documents from the opposition.
To counter the move, the Pheu Thai Party will ask the Constitution Court to block the investigations by the NACC as unconstitutional.
If the NACC recommends Yingluck’s impeachment after the probes, it should be regarded as her luck to a point because the Senate, which has the authority to impeach Cabinet members, has never impeached anyone so far.
But if the NACC decides that the prime minister has also committed criminal offences, the anti-graft agency will ask public prosecutors to send the case to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office.
If the court finds Yingluck guilty, she will also be banned from politics for five years.
But it seems unlikely that any of the impeachment attempts will see the light of day, let alone the hope to do away with corruption in Thailand.