Meechai defends appointment of daughter to NCPO-related post
There is nothing unusual about one’s own daughter being appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order as a personal officer to your position on the ruling body, NCPO member Meechai Ruchuphan said on Monday.
“There is no law prohibiting officers, or even politicians, from appointing their family members to positions,” he insisted. “I assure you this has no hidden benefit.”
Meechai has come under fire since his daughter, Mayura Chuangchote, was appointed as his deputy secretary-general by the NCPO last Wednesday, along with other 33 officers.
Following a regulation set by the NCPO themselves, Mayura will receive a monthly salary of Bt47,500, on a par with the prime minister’s deputy secretary-general.
The 79-year-old lawyer has led the drafting process for the 2017 charter and several organic laws, including the law governing criminal procedures against political office holders, which is known for its harsh punishment of corrupt politicians.
Meechai defended his position on Monday by arguing that he, a non-civil servant, was not authorised to ask other officers to take up the post of his deputy secretary-general, and that he needed therefore to ask his daughter to do so.
The NCPO-related job also requires a high degree of trust and confidentiality that his own offspring should be best fitted to provide, he added.