Nomination of Somdej Chuang as Patriarch is ‘in line with the law’

However, it is the prime minister who has the authority to decide whether the interpretation of Article 7 of the Sangha Act by the Office of Ombudsman is correct, the deputy director of the National Office of Buddhism, Chayaphon Phongsida, said. 

After a request by Paiboon Nititawan, the former chairman of the reform committee of Buddhism affairs, the ombudsman interpreted Article 7 of the Sangha Act as implying it was the duty of the prime minister to propose names of qualified monks to the SSC for approval before submission for royal endorsement. 

Article 7 states: “The prime minister, with the approval of the SSC, proposes the name of the Patriarch to HM the King for endorsement.”

“I insist that the National Office of Buddhism and the SSC have already decided on the nomination of the 20th Patriarch carefully, in accordance with the law, traditional procedure and norms,” said Chayaphon. “The name has already been forwarded to Prime Minister’s Office pending his decision.”

“We have done our job, if another agency has a difference of opinion, it is the prime minister who has the authority to make the decision,” he said.

The secretary to the Office of Ombudsman, Rakkecha Chaechai, said his office deemed the decision made by the SSC as erroneous. As per the ombudsman’s interpretation of Article 7, it should be the prime minister who proposes the name of the candidate for consideration by the SSC and when the SSC makes its decision, it has to submit the name back to the premier in order to forward it for royal endorsement, he said.

The Ombudsman recommended that the government and the SSC restart the process by having the premier pick a candidate and propose it to the SSC for consideration, he said. 

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is also a legal expert, said the government would listen to the ombudsman’s interpretations but the government was not bound to comply with such an opinion. 

“If we have some legal questions, we will consult with the Council of State,” he said, “but at this stage, there are no questions and nobody said the SSC has done anything wrong.”

Paiboon said the government and the SSC needed to reprocess the nomination of the new supreme monk as suggested by the ombudsman. As Somdej Chuang – Somdej Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn – was accused of involvement in a luxury-car scandal, the government and the SSC should put on hold the process until he is cleared, he said.