Thawil case snares govt in its own intrigues

No matter how the government reacts to the court order, it will face severe consequences from the move it made shortly after it assumed power in 2011.
When the Pheu Thai government took office, it started purging permanent officials seen as being men of the previous administration and possible thorns in its side. The purging was necessary for the administration to move its own men to key positions.
One of these key positions the government wanted for its men was the police commissioner-general. At that time, the government wanted Pol General Priewphan Damapong, a brother of Khunying Pojaman Napomphet, to become the national police chief – but the position was being held by Pol General Wichien Pojphosri. Wichien set a condition that he wanted the post of NSC secretary-general in exchange.
For the Pheu Thai government at that time, the issue posed few problems because Thawil was seen as a Democrat man and he took part in the crackdowns on red-shirt protesters in 2010.
Therefore, Thawil was removed to make way for Wichien. Thawil was made an inactive adviser to the PM’s Office. Without important assignments, Thawil became infuriated and vowed to fight for justice. He patiently gathered evidence and followed all necessary legal procedures before filing a suit with the Administrative Court.
The government was apparently overconfident in its power so it carelessly bypassed legal procedures in removing Thawil and backed its decision with unjustified reasons as the ruling of the Administrative Court stated.
And the government was so confident in its power that it further reshuffled senior officials. Among key positions, Wichien was transferred to become permanent secretary for the Transport Ministry, paving the way for Lt-General Paradorn Pattanathabutr to become the new NSC chief.
When Paradorn was a deputy NSC chief, he was designated for the top intelligence position under the tenure of the Samak Sundaravej government – but the Abhisit Vejjajiva government moved him out of the NSC. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra eventually made him NSC chief.
Paradorn is a nephew of Preeda Pattanathabutr, former university affairs minister and former PM’s Office minister. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was a police aide for Preeda so Paradorn is close to Thaksin. Paradorn admitted he has been close to Thaksin since his childhood.
Now, the government is in a dilemma. If it refuses to reinstate Thawil, it will be regarded as disobeying the court’s order. If it buys time by appealing against the order waiting for Thawil to retire, the tactic would be unsuccessful because Thawil has one year and a half of service time left and the Supreme Administrative Court will issue a ruling before Thawil retires.
Moreover, Thawil would retaliate against a delaying tactic by filing a complaint against Yingluck with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing the prime minister of negligence of duty and malfeasance. The suit could lead to an impeachment process against the prime minister.
If Thawil carries out the threat, the government will definitely be shaken. If the NACC decides the prime minister committed malfeasance, the entire Cabinet would have to stop performing its duties immediately pending a ruling by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office.
But also it will be not easy for the government to reinstate Thawil because the NSC chief has access to various levels of intelligence and must take part in decision-making on several key issues. And security issues include political stability. As a result, some countries nominate the NSC chief position as a political post, instead of a permanent position, and the governments in those countries have the power to appoint the NSC chief directly.
Worse still in this case, Thawil is seen as being on the government’s opposite side and took part in the 2010 crackdowns. So, his reinstatement would definitely infuriate red-shirt supporters of the government.
As a result, the government is now trapped in a dilemma because of its own careless moves when it took office.