POWER GAMES
NATTAYA CHETCHOTIROS
Over the past week the judiciary branch has stamped its authority repeatedly as a pivotal body capable of settling important political cases.
Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court sent three lawyers working for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, Khunying Potjaman, to jail for six months for contempt of court, after they allegedly tried to bribe a court official with a snack box stuffed with two million baht in cash.
Last Saturday, the Administrative Court granted an injunction against a joint communique on the Preah Vihear temple signed by Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodia.
On Monday, the newly-appointed panel of Constitution Court judges unanimously resolved that the coup-makers' announcement setting up the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) and the extension of its tenure did not violate Article 309 of the constitution which the People Power party (PPP) wanted so much to get rid of.
The decisions by the three courts are an encouraging pointer to the increasing role of the judicial branch, which has been evolving fast.
In its first official meeting, the new Constitution Court handed down a landmark ruling that has left many in the government and those connected with Mr Thaksin shaking in their shoes.
In the snack box scandal, the Supreme Court asked police to charge the three lawyers with attempted bribery, which could eventually lead to the unmasking of the real owner of the money.
Whether the alleged bribery case was linked to the Ratchadaphisek land purchase case and whether the claim by one of the lawyers who is a relative of Khunying Potjaman, that he gained the two-million-baht cash from the sale of a house, remains to be proven in court.
The Anti-Money Laundering Office can be petitioned to investigate where the money came from.
The Administrative Court' s injunction against the Foreign Ministry's support for Phnom Penh's bid to unilaterally list Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site will require the cabinet to revoke its resolution pledging support for the bid and to ask the World Heritage Site Committee to delay considering the proposed listing of the temple.
The Constitution Court's ruling has essentially ruined the attempt by lawyers representing Mr Thaksin to make a case that the ASC and all of its investigations against him were illegal and unconstitutional.
After this, they will have to refocus their strategy and prove their claim that the ASC was biased against Mr Thaksin and his associates. They will also have to disprove the allegations levelled by the ASC against the ousted prime minister.
Until the ruling came, the ASC had found itself caught in a precarious position, as questions remained over its legal status since the new constitution was in place.
The ASC had trouble moving forward with its inquiries during the Surayud Chulanont government, which was reluctant to lend its support.
Things got worse when the PPP came into government, with the prime minister being a defendant in a firetruck and boat procurement case also being handled by the ASC.
Panel members are also facing defamation suits seeking damages worth hundreds of billions of baht from those accused by the ASC.
But the Constitution Court's ruling has turned things around.
More than 4,000 people thronged to support the ASC members at Thammasat University auditorium in a farewell seminar that brought down the curtain on the ASC on Monday.
The National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) was present and took over the ASC's job with "passionate intensity" in its effort to tackle graft head-on.
From now on , the handling of the cases against Mr Thaksin will be even faster under the NCCC.
Mr Thaksin and the government have been forced to go on the defensive since the People's Alliance for Democracy began its street protests.
The issue of the Preah Vihear temple was raised and the judicial process has now been set in motion.
The campaign to help "the real big boss" thus appears to have fizzled out for the time being.
It seems that Prime Minister Samak feels no need to take anyone under his wing now, since he has already fulfilled all his political ambitions. He has attained the highest position of power as prime minister, without having had to invest too much.
The court's ruling on the ASC's status means that Mr Thaksin may not easily win the cases against him.
The situation now is different from that in 1991, when the then National Peace-keeping Council issued an order seizing the assets of politicians at the time but which the Supreme Court later ruled was in breach of the constitution.
The chances of Mr Thaksin winning or losing the cases against him depend on how well the ASC has built its cases and how solid the evidence in the cases are.
With the power to set up sub-committees to work on the cases, the NCCC is likely to appoint former ASC members to sit on these inquiry panels.
Mr Thaksin's supporters have to bear in mind that the anti-graft body is more powerful than the ASC.
The NCCC is an independent agency with a nine-year tenure under the charter. It is equipped with more power and budget. Its anti-corruption work will certainly make greater headway.
Nattaya Chetchotiros is President of the Thai Journalists Association and Assistant News Editor, Bangkok Post.
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