Accusations of govt bias wrong, she says
By King-oua Laohong
Election commissioner Sodsri Sattayatham is thinking of filing defamation charges against People's Alliance for Democracy rally speakers for accusing her of being pro-government while deliberating petitions. Mrs Sodsri has been under attack from the PAD since the day she abstained in an EC vote which eventually saw former People Power party deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat, the former house speaker, red-carded for vote buying in the Dec 23 general election.
She and Somchai Juengprasert, the other commissioner who voted against disqualifying Mr Yongyuth in the case, were alleged to have an inclination to serve the government.
The five-member EC has fended off the accusation and insisted it acted independently. More recently, some commission insiders were also blamed for rigging witness data in favour of Mr Yongyuth in the case.
A group of PAD demonstrators are expected to hold a rally tomorrow outside the EC office to extend moral support to the ''impartial'' commissioners, while denouncing those seen as failing to remain so. Mrs Sodsri said she would be away in Chon Buri tomorrow on official duty and the PAD was welcome to follow her there if it wished.
She sarcastically advised EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond yesterday to pin labels on the commissioners' desks to tell people whether they were pro-government or pro-PAD.
She said she was the target of a mudslinging campaign, including an allegation she received diamond jewellery from Khunying Potjaman, the wife of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is facing a slew of corruption charges.
Mrs Sodsri vowed to take to court all her accusers, particularly PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul, for accusing her of bias without producing any evidence to back up their accusations.
She said the reason she abstained from the Yongyuth vote was because she felt the evidence was not enough.
She said she should not be vilified just because her judgement did not please some people.
Meanwhile, Auditor-General Jaruvan Maintaka is also threatening to file a lawsuit against a pressure group for claiming she is unusually rich.
A so-called corruption fighting network last week petitioned the National Counter Corruption Commission, questioning the source of the money Khunying Jaruvan used to build her new house in Nonthaburi, which the group said is worth more than 50 million baht.
Khunying Jaruvan said the house was only worth four million baht and construction often had to be halted because of a cash shortage. The land belongs to her husband who bought it before they were married, she said.
She said her contractor had been asked by someone to lie about the price of the house, but he refused.
The auditor-general, also a member of the Assets Scrutiny Committee which has brought multiple graft charges against the Thaksin administration, said she even received death threats as well as bribe offers.
Police will be mobilised to maintain law and order on Rama I road during the PAD march to the EC headquarters.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Next
