Once again the working of the military government has come under public scrutiny and those involved in the gaffe are acting as though the general public is nothing but a bunch of fools who would forget as long as those involved in the incident keep their head below the ground.
The latest issue to flare up in the face of the men in uniform government was the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)'s appointment of the younger brother of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to a 35-member panel scrutinising the draft organic bill on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). The bill was passed by the NLA in its first reading on Thursday. The panel will vet the bill on the second reading.
The panel is authorised to change the bill as it sees fit. The bill was drafted by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), which is chaired by Meechai Ruchupan. The saving grace is that if the CDC does not agree with the changes, a joint CDC-NLA committee may be formed to thrash out a solution after the NLA has passed the bill and while it is pending royal endorsement.
Gen Prawit's brother, Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwon, would have not have hit the headlines if those who were making the decision had not forgotten that the NACC has in fact been investigating Pol Gen Patcharawat for being unusually rich.
Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.
Surprisingly, the other person appointed to this committee, Pol Lt Gen Boonrueng Polpanich, is also under the NACC's scrutiny for his wealth accumulation.
What is more surprising is the fact that incumbent NACC chairman Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit has come out to defend the appointment, saying that the two cases against these people has not reached the "inquiry" stage and therefore they should be presumed innocent until they are proven to be guilty.
He added that there is no reason to deny Pol Gen Patcharawat or Pol Lt Gen Boonrueng a place on the panel chaired by Pol Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit, an NLA member.
The problem with the statement made by Pol Gen Watcharapol is that his agency has failed to take action on these two cases even though a formal complaint was reportedly filed with the NACC on March 26, 2010.
The complaint said Pol Gen Patcharawat, who was the national police chief at the time, and his deputy, Pol Lt Gen Boonrueng, had amassed unusual wealth in co-owning the Rungroj Rungpatchara horse stable in Saraburi, an asset supposedly worth hundreds of millions of baht.
Apart from this, Pol Gen Patcharawat also faces charges of concealing his wealth by putting his wife and daughter's names as co-owners of a resort in Samut Prakan province. The case of the resort has progressed well as the subcommittee had collected the facts and evidence in 2014 and the accused were asked to submit their explanations and counter the allegations. The NACC earlier had sent inspectors to gather more evidence and had summoned witnesses to give statements.
Pol Gen Watcharapol seemed to be forgetting these basic facts and is trying to cover up the blunder of the appointment of the two men by saying that the NACC has 3,000 cases involving high-ranking officials and that all these are presumed to be innocent until they are proven guilty.
Which civilised country would allow an accused person to helm a law-drafting committee that could possibly be the guillotine for himself in the very near future?
Pol Gen Patcharawat and Pol Lt Gen Boonrueng both have their heads on the chopping block of the NACC by being put in charge of rules that would be in place for years, if not decades, to come. And this is not to mention the persistent criticisms of Pol Gen Patcharawat's elder brother, Gen Prawit, for his extravaganza lifestyle.
It was about this time last year that Gen Prawit took a 38-member entourage on a chartered jet to Hawaii, a trip which cost 21 million baht. Gen Prawit and his men have been at the centre of many controversies, including the latest which led to the resignation at the Labour Ministry.
It may be time for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to take a harder look at those closest to him and possibly look at clearing the ranks in the cabinet reshuffle.
Abuse of power by those who have seized power from the people is not going to take Gen Prayut too far when the time comes for them to vote in just about a year, and therefore the prime minister should look at cleansing his cabinet of people who are committing abuses or allowing their names to be used to abuse power.
