Image: Zimbio

308 Thai Officials Face Anticorruption Inquiry

International New York Times | 8 Jan. 2014

 

BANGKOK — The anticorruption authorities in Thailand announced Tuesday that they were opening investigations of 308 lawmakers, most of them from the governing party, on suspicion of “malfeasance in office,” in connection with a constitutional amendment that was later ruled by a court to have been enacted illegally.

The investigations, which critics called highly political, could destabilize the governing party, Pheu Thai, because of the number of prominent lawmakers involved. 

The government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is seeking a new mandate in elections scheduled for Feb. 2. She and her party appear certain to win easily. The opposition Democrat Party, however, is boycotting the elections, and protesters have tried to sabotage the polls by interfering with voter registration procedures. 

The protesters say they are fighting the dominance of Ms. Yingluck’s family in the country, and especially the power of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister. He remains a major force in Thai politics, despite living in exile and his conviction in 2008 on charges of abusing his power while in office.

Protest leaders say they will “shut down” Bangkok next week, a plan that is opposed by prominent business associations but is apparently backed by tens of thousands of protesters, many of whom marched through Bangkok again on Tuesday. 

The government stationed police units at Bangkok’s main international airport on Tuesday. The airport, a regional hub, was shut down by similar groups of protesters in 2008, disrupting travel in Thailand and neighboring countries. 

The National Anticorruption Committee’s statement on Tuesday announcing the investigations did not give any specifics of the charges against the lawmakers. Still, the case goes to the heart of the two months of political turmoil in Thailand, especially the waning confidence in elections among a large segment of the population. 

The amendment in question was approved by Parliament but was struck down by the Constitutional Court in November, on the ground that amendment procedures were not properly followed. The amendment would have made the Thai Senate a directly elected body; currently about half its members are appointed by a committee of officials and judges. The court also found that the amendment would have upset the country’s system of political checks and balances. 

In other countries, moving to a fully elected upper house might be applauded as a stride toward greater democracy. But in Thailand, the amendment was seen as cementing the governing party’s dominance, and was opposed by the Democrats and by the heads of crucial state agencies. 

Under the Thai Constitution, members of some of the nation’s most important institutions must be confirmed by the Senate, including the Election Commission, the Constitutional Court and the anticorruption commission. 

“The role of the Senate is instrumental,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “The system is designed to shift power away from the executive branch.” 

Protest leaders and members of the Democrat Party see the Senate as the last bulwark against the encroaching power of Pheu Thai. The system of appointing about half of the Senate seats was introduced by a military-installed government after the 2006 coup that toppled Mr. Thaksin. 

Gothom Arya, a former election commissioner and one of the country’s leading constitutional experts, said the investigations announced on Tuesday were “highly political.” The anticorruption commission, he said, had “charged the legislators for just doing their jobs.”