To ask Council of State if they must stop work
POST REPORTERS
Uraiwan: To receive summons from Supreme Court within 15 days |
The three ministers linked to the two-and three-digit lottery scandal will today ask the Council of State, the government's legal adviser, if they have to step down from the cabinet now the Supreme Court has accepted the case.
They also plan to seek an interpretation from the Constitution Court on whether they should be suspended from duty.
Until further recommendations are made, the ministers have insisted they will continue with their work.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee maintained that he and the other two ministers in question - Labour Minister Uraiwan Thienthong and Deputy Transport Minister Anurak Jureemart - need not relinquish their posts.
He was speaking after the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions accepted the case against them yesterday.
Surapong: `I'm not in the wrong ... it
was for the good of the country' |
"Even though the court has accepted the case, this does not mean I'm in the wrong. I insist the management of the digit lottery was morally correct and it was for the good of the country," he said, adding that he and the other two ministers would today bring the issue to the Council of State's attention.
Mr Surapong said the three ministers' positions in the present Samak Sundaravej administration had nothing to do with the allegations levelled against them when they were in the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet, which introduced the digit lottery scheme.
The court has scheduled the first hearing for Sept 26. Summonses will be sent to the defendants in 15 days.
The lottery case has implicated 47 people, including former prime minister Thaksin, his former cabinet members and officials of the Government Lottery Office (GLO). The now-defunct Assets Scrutiny Committee's (ASC) sub-committee handling the investigation found that 32 members of the Thaksin government, together with the GLO board, violated the GLO Act by launching the digit lottery scheme in 2003.
"The allegations were levelled against me as the ICT minister. But I no longer hold that portfolio as the cabinet from that time is no longer in office. It is not my present post.
"The interpretation that those in the present cabinet must be suspended from work may not comply with the spirit of the constitution," Mr Surapong argued.
Anurak: Plans to seek interpretation
from the Constitution Court too |
He also cited an article by Somrak Jatkrabuanpol, former member of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), who wrote that ministers in their current posts need not necessarily halt their work as their new portfolios are not the same as when they faced allegations of irregularities.
Mr Surapong said he would continue with his duties and was able to exercise his authority as a cabinet minister.
NCCC member Vicha Mahakhun said the three ministers should have stopped work when the ASC's sub-committee handling the investigation found that 32 members of the Thaksin government, together with the GLO board, violated the GLO Act by launching the two- and three-digit lottery scheme.
Mr Vicha warned that the three ministers may be considered to be intentionally disobeying the NCCC law if they insist on continuing in their posts.
He said it was the first time that Article 55 of the anti-corruption law had been applied to political office holders who are still in office.
Previously, the law had been imposed against politicians who had already left office such as in the case of former public health minister Rakkiat Sukthana.
The law says that "the accused" must halt their duties, and the term applies to anyone accused in such a case, no matter what positions they hold.
The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) yesterday agreed that the prosecution will not represent all the defendants in the lottery case.
Kemchai Chutiwong, the OAG deputy spokesman, said the ASC had exercised its authority as a plaintiff on behalf of the state to indict the defendants, and the OAG, as a state agency, should not represent them in court, as this could contradict the actions of the ASC.
However, the business sector does not seem worried about what might happen to the finance minister.
Santi Vilassakdanont, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said the court's decision should not affect the business sector.
"The business sector has to move on, whatever happens," he said.
FTI vice-chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol said in the event Mr Surapong is suspended from duty, his replacement must understand the macro economy, be open to listening to opinions from the private sector and be ready to work closely with it.
"The cabinet reshuffle should not affect government policies that have been implemented. We want continuity in the policies after the reshuffle," said Mr Payungsak.
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