The national anti-graft body has dismissed an allegation lodged with it against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her cabinet claiming they dishonestly issued an executive decree in 2012 to try and obtain loans to fund a 350-billion-baht water management scheme.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) unanimously agreed there wasn't any solid evidence to prove Yingluck or her cabinet violated Section 169 of the 2007 constitution as accused, NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon said on Friday.
The NACC based its judgement on the Constitutional Court's ruling dated Feb 22, 2012, which said the executive decree authorising the Finance Ministry to seek loans to fund the 2012 water scheme was necessary for maintaining the country's economic security and to stave off more national disasters, he said.
The issuing of the decree was justified because it was required to deal with an urgent situation that could not be avoided, he said. However, the NACC is still holding an inquiry into three more allegations involving the water project under the Yingluck administration, Mr Worawit said. Her government was accused of missing the deadline for applying for loans for the water scheme and unlawfully seeking the loans after the deadline, he added.
Its implementation of the water scheme by designing and constructing a water resources management facility was also accused of being in breach of Sections 57 and 67 of the 2007 constitution, as well as Section 103/7 of the 1999 Corruption Prevention and Suppression Act and the 1992 National Environment Quality Protection and Prevention Act, Mr Worawit said.
The other allegation the NACC is looking into deals with the terms of reference for the water scheme, which was allegedly drafted to help a group of private companies win bids for contracts related to the project, he said.