Prayut sacks House secretary-general
HOUSE of Representatives secretary-general Jare Phanpluang has been sacked and moved to an advisory post at the PM's Office, which is deemed inactive.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invoked absolute powers under the interim charter’s Article 44 to remove Jare from his post.
In the order issued on Thursday and announced in the Royal Gazette yesterday, Jare will be replaced by the Senate Secretariat’s legal adviser, Nat Phasuk. The order did not explain why Jare was sacked, though he told reporters yesterday that he had been informed of the order.
“I am a permanent official so have no problem with it. I’ll comply with the order, no matter what it is,” he said in a phone interview with The Nation, but refused to speculate on the reason behind his removal.
Jare still has two years of service left, and his lightening transfer has led to wide speculations on the cause. Several House Secretariat officials believe he was transferred because he failed to make progress in the investigation of several cases of alleged corruption in the House Secretariat.
Jare visited his office to pick up his personal belongings at noon and stopped by to visit Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission, at 1.30pm.
After speaking to Meechai for about five minutes, Jare told reporters that he would not comment on whether his transfer was fair or not.
Asked whether he had been removed due to the lack of progress in the investigation into questionable procurement projects at the House Secretariat, he said he did not know. However, he said some investigation had been completed, though he could not remember the details, saying the work would be completed by his successor.
This is the second time that Prayut has used the Article 44 to transfer a House secretary-general.
The first time, Suwijak Nakwatcharachai was removed from the post and transferred to an inactive post in the PM’s Office, before being replaced by Jare.
Also, this is the first time that an official from the Secretariat of the Senate has been made secretary-general of the House. Nat was previously being considered for the post of Senate secretary-general.
