Former National Reform Council member Ticha Na Nakorn on Friday submitted an online petition with more than 80,000 signatures calling on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to drop his deputy Prawit Wongsuwon from cabinet over the luxury watches affair.
The list of online supporters calling for Gen Prawit to step down was submitted by Ms Ticha, a human rights advocate and youth specialist, at the Public Service Centre near Government House in the morning.
The names were gathered on the www.change.org website for public complaints from Jan 31-Feb 15 with the aim to pressure Gen Prawit into resigning, as he said last month he would if the people demanded it.
Ms Ticha said 80,000 supporters was more than the number stipulated to remove a politician from their post by the referendum law under the 1997 constitution, which required at least 50,000 names.
She also called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission to be transparent in its investigation of Gen Prawit, who failed to declare his pricey wristwatches, estimated to be worth about 30 million baht, as required when he took office.
She compared the commission to a detergent used to help cleanse Gen Prawit’s name in the matter, even though the anti-graft agency was set up to examine the actions of politicians.
