Govt needs to explain Yingluck's wrongdoing better: Democrat
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THE Prayut government must clearly explain the alleged wrongdoing of officials in connection with the rice-pledging scheme or it will fall victim to the lawyers of ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra, Democrat Party spokesman Ramet Rattanachaweng said yesterday.
Ramet said the government would turn from a plaintiff into a defendant if it failed to explain its move to use the Liability of Wrongful Act by Official Act 1996 against Yingluck and others.
He said the intention of the Act was to make state officials who |commit a wrongful act that results in liability to pay compensation to the state or the people.
“The fact is Yingluck, regarded as a state official [at the time], allegedly committed gross negligence related to the rice-pledging scheme that led to huge damages to the state. In this case, the Finance Ministry has the authority to seek compensation from Yingluck,’’ he said.
He said that Article 10 of the Act stated that an official who committed grave negligence to any state agency must pay compensation regardless of whether the official was under the jurisdiction of the agency in question.
He said many officials had taken legal action via the Act.
“There is not discrimination or harassment as alleged. [The Yingluck camp] resorts to legal tactics to fight the case in the court by claiming that Yingluck was not summoned to present her side of the story,’’ he said.
He said it was normal for Pheu Thai Party legal specialists to accuse the government of harassment and discrimination for rushing legal |procedures.
“I have fought legal battles in many cases with Pheu Thai and I believe this party does not care about the facts but only wants to dismiss the other side by making the case carry less weight,” he said.
“But the fact is, this case is solid because it is obvious that there was corruption in the rice-pledging scheme but the then PM failed to stop the corruption.
“This makes it hard for them to fight the legal battle.”
