Senate votes against Nanthana over alleged demeaning remarks toward fellow senators

The Senate on Tuesday voted to ask the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to take legal action against Senator Nanthana Nantavaropas for allegedly breaching the Senate’s ethical standards by referring to her fellow senators as “pork vendors.”

It took the Senate two rounds of voting to decide to send the ethical case against Associate Professor Nanthana to the NACC for further investigation and possible legal action.

Nanthana, a well-known media academic and former dean of Krirk University’s College of Political Communication, has been campaigning against what she described as the domination of senators linked to the ruling political party.

Criticism leads to ethics probe

Her latest campaign triggered an ethics investigation after she criticised the selection of members of the Senate Committee on Political Development, saying the panel should represent a wide range of professions but instead included “pork vendors.”

On Tuesday, Senate Speaker Mongkol Surasajja chaired a meeting to deliberate on the Senate Ethics Committee’s report on Nanthana’s case.

The meeting was initially held behind closed doors for over five hours as the panel, chaired by Senate Deputy Speaker General Kriangsak Srirak, presented its findings. Sources said Nanthana also appeared before the Senate to defend herself.

Accused of multiple ethical violations

Nanthana was accused of violating Articles 14, 18, 24, 29, and 31 of the Senate’s code of ethics for making satirical and demeaning remarks about other senators. She was also accused of breaching Articles 4, 27, 34, 50 (3), 50 (6), and 107 of the Constitution.

The open session of the Senate resumed at 2.42pm.

Initially, the Senate voted to endorse the committee’s report. A second vote was then called to determine whether Nanthana had violated the ethical code, with the results showing 131 votes against Nanthana and 25 in her favour.

Vote repeated after complaint over lack of secrecy

However, several senators protested that the two votes had not been conducted in secret, as required for ethics deliberations. As a result, Mongkol ordered officials to adjust the voting system to ensure confidentiality and announced a 15-minute break to rectify the issue.

When the new confidential vote was held, the Senate voted 130 to 23 to endorse the report, with 11 abstentions and two members not voting.

A final vote was then conducted on whether Nanthana’s actions constituted a serious ethical breach. The results were 130 votes against Nanthana, 26 in her favour, 11 abstentions, and two not voting.

Case referred to NACC

Mongkol announced that, as three-fifths of the Senate found that Nanthana had violated the ethical code, he would forward the case to the NACC for investigation and legal proceedings.

Nanthana thus becomes the first senator in the current Senate to face action for an alleged breach of ethics.