Niphon Bunyamanee, a deputy leader of the Democrat Party, has resigned from his portfolio as deputy interior minister to fight a court case for alleged malfeasance while he was president of the Songkhla provincial administration organisation (PAO) in 2013.
Mr Niphon said on Monday that he informed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha he was resigning on Monday morning, and Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, the Democrat Party leader, on Sunday night. His resignation took effect from Monday.
He named Gen Prayut, the suspended prime minister, and not acting Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.
He said he told Gen Prayut and Mr Jurin that he did not want to fight the case while holding a ministerial post. He was not under pressure to resign from within the Democrat Party, he said.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has ruled there were grounds to charge Mr Niphon under Section 157 of the Criminal Code for refusing to pay Ponlavit Tech Plus Co 52 million baht for road maintenance vehicles the Songkhla PAO called for by tender when Mr Niphon was its president in 2013.
The NACC initially ordered Mr Niphon to report to the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Aug 18. Mr Niphon asked the NACC for a postponement to Sept 22, saying he was engaged with official duties. The NACC rescheduled the reporting date to Sept 5.
Mr Niphon said he decided to resign on Sept 5 because it was the day he was due to report to the court and the case was now in the judicial process.
He also posted a message on Facebook announcing his decision.
He said he could not pay Ponlavit Tech Plus Co, which won the bidding to sell road maintenance vehicles to the Songkhla PAO, because the bidders were found to have forged documents and indulged in price collusion, causing damage to the PAO.
The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 9 had issued warrants for the arrest of all bidders, including the winning company and its subsidiaries. Most of the suspects had fled abroad. The suspects who were caught had been indicted in the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 9, he said.
"Today, I am ready to fight the case in court to prove that my refusal to pay the bid winning company was to protect the country's interest, not malfeasance as accused by the NACC. If we could go back to that time, I would still insist in not paying the company," he wrote.