POLITICS
The Supreme Administrative Court yesterday refused to consider the People's Alliance for Democracy's (PAD) complaints against three cabinet ministers involving the controversial digit lottery and in recent cabinet resolutions. On Aug 13, the PAD asked the court to suspend Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, Labour Minister Uraiwan Thienthong and Deputy Transport Minister Anurak Jureemart from duty as the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions had already accepted a lawsuit against them for links to the digit lottery scheme.
Yesterday, the Supreme Administrative Court viewed that the introduction of the digit lottery, initiated by the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra government, was an exercise of administrative power so the case needed to be considered by the Central Administrative Court first.
The PAD also challenged the legitimacy of subsequent cabinet resolutions on July 29 and Aug 5 as the three ministers were still in attendance at the sessions despite the queries over their status.
The Supreme Administrative Court viewed that the cabinet resolution relevant to the July 29 resolution appointing Pornchai Nuchsuwan, former director of the Budget Bureau, as chairman of the Bank of Thailand's (BoT) board and the Aug 5 resolution appointing Virabongsa Ramangkura as the chief economic adviser to the prime minister, were not under the scope of its authority.
Mr Pornchai is one of dozens of civil servants facing charges in the digit lottery case and has been criticised for having close ties to Mr Thaksin.
The Council of State also yesterday voted 5:1 that the three ministers could stay in office despite the lottery lawsuit.
The council, which is the government's legal arm, said the three were acting in the present cabinet which was different from the previous cabinet that had launched the lottery scheme.
Meanwhile, the Democrat party has filed a complaint with the ombudsman seeking to nullify the appointment of a search panel responsible for selecting new directors of the BoT on the grounds of conflicts of interest.
The Democrats said three members of the selection committee appointed by Mr Surapong were in violation of the new BoT Act due to conflicts of interest.
The three members are Vijit Supinit, a former central bank governor and current audit committee chairman of TMB Bank; Chaiyawat Wibulswasdi, another former central bank governor and executive chairman of Krung Thai Bank; and Sathit Limpongpan, a deputy finance permanent secretary and chairman of TMB Bank.
Another selection committee member, Nibhat Bhukkanasut, has also had corruption allegations levelled against him in the past.
The cabinet on July 29 acknowledged the appointments of six candidates made by the selection committee, including Mr Pornchai.
The selection committee was responsible for appointing half the 12-member central bank board, with the remaining six directors to comprise central bank senior executives and representatives from state agencies.
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