The National Legislative Assembly (NLA)'s whip has insisted the leaked audio clip indicating the prime minister was not happy with the list of telecom regulator candidates was doctored.
Critics have jumped on the clip as evidence of the NCPO seeking to influence the NLA's decision to shoot down the list of candidates.
"I insist the conversation [in the clip] definitely did not come from any whip meetings," said Somchai Swangkarn, secretary of the NLA whips, yesterday.
He said he was present at all of the meetings and there had been no such discussion. It was also unlikely to have come from the NLA's screening committee either since he had attended those meetings as well.
"I'm confident that the clip was doctored by using the voices of people from several meetings," he said.
Mr Somchai, however, said he couldn't confirm whether the voice was that of an NLA member.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday denied that he had sent a message to the NLA expressing his dissatisfaction over the composition of the list of candidates for the board of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) as suggested by the leaked audio.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called on the NLA to explain its reasons for the unusual decision clearly to the public.
Mr Abhisit said he was surprised to learn that the NLA had not discussed the matter with the committee tasked with screening the candidates ahead of its decision to shoot down the list.
"Both sides now owe the public a clear explanation regarding the problems surrounding the selection of the new NBTC board," he said.
This is not the first instance of such behaviour, with the NLA having already been criticised for voting to reject all seven candidates chosen to be election commissioners on Feb 22, he added.
The NLA claimed earlier that the rejection came after at least eight of the 14 final candidates were deemed to be ineligible.
Still, Mr Somchai said the NLA could not totally blame the screening committee which proposed the list for the mistake because the committee had apparently tried its best to remove a number of ineligible candidates before it produced its 14-person shortlist.
To be fair, he said, the committee was given only 30 days to scrutinise the candidates' qualifications.
Once the NLA whips became aware of the eight ineligible candidates picked by the screening committee, they realised it would be unlawful for the NLA panel to proceed and pick less than the stipulated seven candidates for the NBTC's seven board members, Mr Somchai said.
The eight candidates are ineligible because they used to either hold shares in, serve as executives of, or be employed at a broadcast or telecommunication business one year prior to the selection process, he said.
That is what led to the NLA's resolution, reached last Thursday, to refrain from voting to select the seven NBTC board members, he said.
As for who actually released the controversial audio clip, Mr Somchai said he was confident the clip wasn't intentionally released by anyone affiliated with the NLA, as speculated, to demonstrate their disagreement with the decision, which was reached by means of a vote.
NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, meanwhile, said he will tomorrow sign an order to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the emergence of the audio clip.
The committee will attempt to find out both whether the clip is authentic and who, or which organisation, is behind its release, Mr Pornpetch said.
It will also probe a media report concerning the NLA's separate vote to reject the Ombudsman candidate. The report said the selection committee chaired by the Supreme Court president was not careful enough in its task to screen the candidate, resulting in the rejection.
The probe should take about 30 days to complete, he said.
Either the NLA or the media risk being found guilty of violating both their ethical code and laws such as the Computer Crime Act, he said.
This committee will be tasked with finding out the truth and if the truth points to anyone suspected to have committed a misconduct or a crime, another committee will be set up to consider what type of action should be pursued, Mr Pornpetch said.
NLA vice-president Surachai Liangboonlertchai also insisted the audio file was not recorded at a whips' meeting as he had been present at all meetings and the conversation was not part of proceedings.