No hiring of relatives: NLA
THE National Legislative Assembly's whip committee has resolved that spouses and relatives hired to help NLA members with their official duty will no longer be able to do such work, Assembly vice president Surachai Liengboonlertchai said yesterday.
The move came after an outcry over news that more than 50 members had hired family members to work for them – and legal challenges against them.
Srisuwan Janya, chairman of the Association of Organisations for the Protection of Thailand’s Constitution, said yesterday he would file a petition to ask the national anti-graft agency to investigate allegations of cronyism among National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members who hired relatives to help with their official duties.
Srisuwan said that by hiring spouses, children or relatives as assistants, the NLA members may be violating the anti-corruption law as well as PM’s Office regulations on ethics and code of conduct for political office holders.
“The National Council for Peace and Order has made fighting corruption its agenda, yet one of its arms may be committing wrongdoings, so we need to file a petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission [NACC] to investigate the practice and set standards,” he said.
However, Surachai said he was not worried about the complaint by Srisuwan because he believed the NLA members who hired relatives did not break any law. “The issue is about suitability and they have shown spirit so it is not to worry.’’
The activist said he also gave the NACC a statement in relation to claims that LINE app stickers were overpriced. He had earlier called on the NACC to investigate the allegation.
The ICT Ministry had implemented the sticker project as part of a plan to encourage citizens to observe 12 national values. The stickers were designed to match the 12 values created by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and are available for free as a gift to citizens.
Srisuwan said the Bt7-million budget proposed for the project was a lot higher than the market rate of Bt3-5 million. He also noted that most of the stickers had little to do with the core national values, such as one carrying the message “Rak Jung Boei”, meaning lots of love.
“This is nothing but a waste of money and we fear this will set a precedent for other agencies to follow,” he said.
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