Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears unperturbed by the Opposition’s plan to demand an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission into his alleged gross violation of ethical standards by failing to recite his oath of office fully and his subsequent handling of the issue.
He said today (Friday) that the Opposition can do whatever they wish, but whether it would be legal is a different matter.
Insisting on his respect for the legal process, the Prime Minister claimed that he has cleared the oath controversy with the Constitutional Court, the Administrative Court as well as the Office of the Auditor-General.
He explained that he did not respond to Opposition questions in parliament on Wednesday because he was aware of what the opposition was up to.
“They (the opposition) wanted me to say something (wrong) so that they can drag me into whatever issues,” said the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon said today (Friday) that the NACC’s Office will accept the Opposition’s petition questioning the Prime Minister’s ethical standards as a matter of normal procedure, whether the issue is within its scope of authority or not.
“If it is within its scope of authority, the petition will be accepted for further consideration. If not, the petition will be rejected” said Mr. Worawit.
The latest move against the Prime Minister came after he refused to address the oath controversy during the Opposition debate in the House on Thursday and assigned Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngarm to act on his behalf.
Worawit declined to go into detail about the Opposition’s move, saying that he preferred to wait until the petition has actually been submitted.
