Impeachment cases to be decided next month
Play
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is likely to decide on the impeachment of former Parliament president and his then-deputy some time next month, NLA vice president Peerasak Porjit said yesterday.
He explained that the assembly needed more time to look into the impeachment cases of Somsak Kiatsuranont and Nikom Wairatpanij. The two were accused by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of unlawfully trying to amend the Constitution in relation to the election of the Senate.
Peerasak said the assembly needed more time to decide because alternative legal methods had been proposed and the members had to study 9,000 or so related documents submitted by the NACC. He predicted that the NLA should decide some time in November.
NLA member Thanee On la-iad explained that some assembly members did not know about the legal aspects of the case, and not many had studied the documents in depth. Therefore, he said, the NLA members needed more time.
A source said that initially, NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai had asked assembly members to discuss the key issues in relation to the case and some 16 members had taken to the floor to discuss the issues.
There were three key issues up for discussion, the first of which was whether the NLA is legally authorised to rule over the impeachment case.
The assembly decided that they did have the authority.
The second issue was whether the NLA could rule on an impeachment case even after the accused individual had left public office. The NLA decided to press on with the legal process, because if the former Parliament speakers were convicted, they would be banned from politics for five years.
The final and much-debated issue was which law was relevant to the offence. The military officials in the NLA suggested that a decision be made right away, but this was opposed by many other members because they believe an in-depth study of the legalities of the case is needed before a decision can be made.
Vote on two key posts
In a related development, the NLA will on Wednesday vote on the endorsement of the new Auditor-General and the Council of State secretary-general.
Pornpetch has called a meeting for the endorsement of Distat Hotrakitya as secretary-general of the Office of the Council of State and General Withawas Rajatanant as Auditor-General.
The NLA will also vote on whether it should accept five bills that the special committees have scrutinised through second and third readings, including drafts on the establishment of the Administrative Court and its procedures, on Land Transport and the Transport of Passengers on Public Roads.
The assembly will also look into three bills sponsored by the Cabinet – the Forest Park Act, the reform of ministries and reform of government departments.
