4 lawmakers may be indicted over charter change
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The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) may indict just four parliamentarians for their roles in the aborted legislation to amend the Constitution's article related to the composition of the Senate, which was ruled unconstitutional, according to a
The four are former Parliament president Somsak Kiatsuranont; Senate Speaker Nikom Wiratpanij; the former chair of a panel tasked with vetting the charter-change legislation, Samart Kaewmechai; and former Pheu Thai MP Narisorn Thongtirach, who used his colleagues’ MP identification cards cast several votes for the legislation, the source said.
Impeachment votes
The law requires three-fifths of the Senate to vote to impeach parliamentarians. It would not make sense if there were only 60 senators left to impeach as many as 383 lawmakers.
“The Organic Law on the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption would require votes from at least three-fifths of all the [remaining] senators, or 60 senators, to impeach the 383 parliamentarians and ban them for five years. I think many people cannot make sense of [that possibility],” he said.
Deputy Democrat Party leader Nipit Intarasombat said he hoped the NACC would do its best on this case, adding that work remained to be done to further strengthen parliamentary controls.
