Out of the blue, the Office of the Attorney-General felt the urge to call an urgent meeting of the joint panel of the OAG and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) this Thursday, Christmas Day, to discuss the rice pledging case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Ms Yingluck is accused of dereliction of duty for her failure to properly supervise the rice scheme, causing massive losses to the state -- estimated at 680 billion baht according to the final financial accounting for the programme over the last three years disclosed last Friday by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The OAG’s sudden spurt of energy is in contrast to the remark made a week ago by director-general of the Litigation Department Surasak Trairattrakul that he needs more time to review the case and a decision whether or not to indict Ms Yingluck was unlikely before the end of this month.
Rice being unloaded for storage at a government warehouse in Ratchaburi province last year. (Bangkok Post file photo)
The OAG has raised three points about the NACC’s case against Ms Yingluck: firstly, whether the then-premier had the authority to suspend the rice pledging scheme; secondly, whether she deserved to be charged with dereliction of duty; and, thirdly, it wanted to question more witnesses to substantiate the alleged corruption in the scheme, especially regarding government-to-government rice deals.
What prompted the sudden change of mind after what seemed to be months of foot dragging by the OAG?
It is speculated that Prime Minister Prayut’s no-nonsense remark last Friday about the rice pledging scheme might be the reason. He declared that both criminal and civil action must be taken against those responsible for the implementation of the rice pledging scheme and for the huge loss that was incurred.
Maybe the big shots at OAG felt the heat -- and the urgent need to take action, otherwise some heads may roll.
Gen Prayut, who is also head of the National Council for Peace and Order, is clearly not joking. Remember Atthapol Yaisawang, the former attorney-general who was fired shortly after the NCPO came to power on May 22?
NACC member Vicha Mahakhun said he was still not sure the OAG will decide on Christmas Day whether or not to indict Ms Yingluck, judging the outcome of the meeting as unpredictable.
For certain, all eyes will be on the NACC-OAG joint panel meeting, including those of the former prime minister’s camp.
The decision rests with the OAG, in particular Surasak Trairattrakul, who is handling the case. It is, indeed, a tough call, because either way - whether to indict or not to indict – there will be strong reactions from both sides of the political divide.
But the OAG must bear this in mind: the rice scheme caused 680 billion baht in damages to the state - and that means the taxpayers. Someone has to be held accountable, and they should not be allowed to walk free.