Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday denied he had ordered National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) president to step in and halt the release of the results of a poll relating to the scandal involving Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon's luxury watches.
"The [resulting] resignation of Nida Poll director is of his own accord and has nothing to do with me," said the prime minister.
Arnond Sakworawich, who submitted his resignation as director yesterday, in his Facebook post also affirmed that neither the government nor the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had influenced the decision to withhold the results.
"This is a matter of self-censorship and academic interference at Nida," Mr Arnond said, referring to the request from the Nida president, albeit through another officer, to hold back the survey results which led to his decision to quit.
Referring to the president's remark that censorship within Nida is normal and has happened before, the outgoing poll director said he had no knowledge as to whether this was a recurring theme within the organisation.
Mr Arnond has been in the job just two weeks and handled three polls in that time.
He added that he had not been contacted directly by the president but was called by a vice president to pass on the news. This senior figure, whose name he withheld, informed him that the censorship was a method of preventing poll directors from courting bribes from politicians.
"This would never happen, and I have never received a bribe from a politician," he said.
Nida president Pradit Wanarat said yesterday he wanted to hold back from announcing the results of the poll- which asked whether the public believed Gen Prawit's explanation for his possession of the pricey watches- as he was afraid that it might paint a misleading picture of the affair while the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is still investigating the case.
There was no interference from the government or the NCPO, Mr Pradit said, adding that "nobody can order me to do things".
He said it is his responsibility to oversee what is presented to the media and the public.
"After I became the president, I asked Nida Poll to submit each survey to me prior to its release, but I have never asked them to modify the numbers," he said.
The president also stressed that Nida upholds academic freedom and that in the past Nida's employees were allowed to participate in the political sphere, just not as representatives of Nida.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, former prime minister and current leader of the Democrat Party, said the halt on the poll and the resignation of the poll director will cast the NCPO in a negative light whether it had any involvement in the matter or not.
The poll results should have been released as normal, and the NACC must carry out its own investigation regardless of public opinion, he added.