Yingluck punishment in rice scheme slammed as divisive

Pheu Thai Party’s politician Phumtham Wechayachai wrote on his Facebook page yesterday that the latest action taken against Yingluck was unfair and could bring about another round of conflict. 
Article 44 of the interim charter had been invoked to order that Yingluck was liable for damages caused to the state budget by the rice subsidisation policy and her assets could be frozen or seized by the Legal Execution Department if the former PM failed to obey the order.
Phumtham said the order – which called for the compensation to be paid within 30 days – was rushed and could provoke Yingluck’s supporters.
The politician also questioned why it was illegal for a prime minister to pursue policies that had been properly declared and constitutionally endorsed by Parliament. 
He said the move was part of the government’s attempt to eliminate political rivals, without considering the political conflict that could ensue. 
Phumtham said he believed Yingluck was innocent and should not be the victim of the political divide that had long faced the country.
Political critic Banyong Pongpanit wrote on his Facebook page that the decision to make Yingluck pay for the loss might prevent future governments from developing policies.
He said authorities should think carefully before taking any action against the former PM as well as anyone involved in the scheme. He said the accusation of “developing policies that open the way for corruption” was problematic, as hardly any policies in the country were free from corruption.
While insisting that culprits must be held accountable, Banyong said authorities should look carefully at which processes were troublesome and who exploited them, rather than chasing everyone involved in the scheme.
He also wrote that the decision was made in one court and the defendants were not allowed to fairly dispute the case. He questioned whether the justice system should be reformed.
Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 cases involved in the rice pledging scheme are waiting to be tried. Sub-committees are to be set up to complete initial deliberations six months before forwarding the cases to the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), said its secretary-general Prayong Preeyachit.
As many as 125 of the 986 cases were already on trial, he added.
The cases only involved those relating to malpractice in the rice pledging scheme incurring more than Bt200 billion damages to the state budget. 
Prayong said that after the PACC’s deliberation, the cases would be submitted to the Attorney-General for further legal action. Cases involving disciplinary offences would be forwarded to relevant state agencies for punishment, he added.
He said the PACC was short-staffed considering the large number of sub-committees needed to work on the nearly 1,000 cases, but the commission would try to rotate its limited staff to cover all the cases within the set timeframe. 
Prayong also insisted the PACC’s work was free from the executive branch’s influence.