Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has filed another petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission to oppose the appointment of her nemesis Supa Piyajitti as chair of a subcommittee investigating allegations against her.
The petition was filed with NACC chairman Watcharapol Prasanratchakij on her behalf by lawyer Norawit Lalaeng via Poonsak Khoonsombat, acting director of the NACC's information and special affairs office.
Mr Norawit said there are 15 cases filed with the NACC against Ms Yingluck.
Of these, Ms Supa had been appointed to chair fact-finding sub-committees in six cases. They include the cases in which Ms Yingluck is accused of interfering in appointments of government officials, mishandling water management and misappropriating funds to compensate people affected by political violence.
In one of the cases, Vicha Mahakhun, a former NACC member, was appointed to sit on the fact-finding subcommittee.
Mr Norawit said while Ms Yingluck was prime minister, Ms Supa, who was then a deputy permanent secretary for finance, was appointed to chair a sub-committee to close the accounts of the rice-pledging scheme. At the time, information on the accounts was leaked to opposition politicians.
Moreover, Ms Supa and Mr Vicha testified for the prosecution in the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in the rice-pledging case. Therefore, the two were regarded as a party in conflict with Ms Yingluck, he said.
Based on these facts, if Ms Supa were allowed to chair six sub-committees and Mr Vicha to sit on one, Ms Yingluck would certainly not be given justice.
Mr Norawit said that since the NACC has nine members, it was questionable why Ms Supa was appointed to chair the sub-committees of as many as six cases.
Ms Yingluck had previously filed seven petitions against Ms Supa's appointment, to no avail. The petition submitted today was the eighth, he said.
He said the petition to oppose the NACC order of Aug 29, 2016 regarding the appointment of Ms Supa had been filed to ensure justice for Ms Yingluck.