Activist Ruangkrai accuses 2 ministers of holding more shares than allowed by law
Political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana called on the Election Commission (EC) on Monday to look into the shareholdings of two Cabinet ministers.
He claims that Deputy Agriculture Minister Chaiya Promma and Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang have a greater stake in their companies than allowed by law.
The activist, who is often referred to as the “master complainer”, pointed to a conflict of interest as the ministers had allegedly failed to reduce their and their spouses’ stake in their companies to 5%. He said they should have off-loaded the shares to a trust fund.
Ruangkrai, who is also a member of the Palang Pracharath Party, said the assets declaration submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) upon taking office on September 1 showed that the two ministers and their spouses still held more than 5% of shares in their companies.
In Chaiya’s case, the company in question is Sri Boon Ruang Watana Ltd, and in Sutin’s case, it is Klungsan Isaan Ltd.
Ruangkrai claimed he had checked the assets declarations against the two companies' financial reports submitted to the Business Development Department and noticed the so-called discrepancies.
He has called on the EC to conduct an investigation and ask the court to suspend the two ministers. He also wants the authorities to consider removing them from office.
The activist added that he is also checking the assets statements of several other ministers that appear to have discrepancies as well.
