NLA rejects extra documents from Yingluck's legal team
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The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday dismissed a request by ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's legal team to submit more documents to support her claim that she was not negligent in relation to corruption in the controversial rice-pledgi
The National Legislative Assembly will hold its first hearing on whether to impeach Yingluck on January 9.
The former PM has been charged with negligence for not taking action over corruption in the scheme, which suffered massive losses.
Her lawyers submitted an additional 72 documents in her defence.
Initially, NLA chief Pornphet Wichitcholchai agreed to accept 28 documents, as they had already been annexed to files complied by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
However, the NLA voted 165 to 15 to dump all the new documents.
The NACC submitted the case to impeach Yingluck with the NLA after she was ousted following the May 22 coup.
Yingluck’s lawyers argue that the NLA had no authority to impeach her, claiming that the interim constitution does not empower lawmakers to do that.
The NACC submitted its case to impeach Yingluck in accordance with the scrapped 2007 Constitution and anti-corruption law.
But Pornphet said the military-picked lawmakers had the authority to impeach Yingluck in accordance with the current constitution and NLA meeting-procedure regulations.
It is not clear if Yingluck will testify in person before the assembly, although her legal team says she will give oral testimony on the set date.
Legal expert Kaewsan Atibhoti, the leader of the Thai Spring group, lodged a petition with the NLA yesterday in a bid to force the Prayut Chan-o-cha government to file a civil case against Yingluck’s Cabinet seeking compensation to cover the Bt600 billion lost in the rice-pledging scheme.
Kaewsan said that because Yingluck also faced a criminal charge in relation to the scheme, she must take responsibility for the loss and the current government should file a civil case against her.
“If the premier (Prayut) wants to be in jail for misconduct, he can do nothing and let her go,” Kaewsan said. “We came to the NLA today to remind people that the lawmakers have a duty to force the government to file a civil case.”
Kaewsan said he would launch a website so people can support a petition that he would submit to Prayut. The campaign to collect names will end on December 18.
Meanwhile, former Democrat MP Watchara Phetthong submitted a request to the anti-graft body yesterday calling on it to scrutinise a road-show project launched when Yingluck was in power.
He said the then-prime minister’s secretary Suranand Vejjajiva spent Bt240 million promoting the project and one company obtained as much as Bt140 million to handle its advertising and public relations.
