BURNING ISSUE

'Outsider' shut out of AMLO again

By Piyanart Srivalo

[email protected]

Sihanart

The door to the chief's post at the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) seemed to be shut finally for Sihanart Prayoonrat after Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga withdrew his name from a Cabinet meeting last week.

It was the second time the name of the acting secretary general of AMLO had been withdrawn.

In October, the Cabinet asked whether an "outsider" could be appointed the post, and Pirapan withdrew Sihanart's name to reconsider it. And when Pirapan proposed Sihanart's name to the Cabinet last week for the second time, the name was again withdrawn. And this time the main reason was that Sihanart had close connections to fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Pirapan told the Cabinet that a secretary general of AMLO must be an inner official of the office. And now only two people were qualified: Sihanart, the first deputy secretary general, and Annop Likhitjittha, the second deputy secretary-general.

"It was believed the minister would propose Annop [for the AMLO chief post] to the Cabinet after the second withdrawal of Sihanart," a source from Justice Ministry said.

Sihanart is known as being close to former AMLO secretary-general and Election Commission chairman Wassana Phermlarp and to another former AMLO secretary-general, Piraphan Premphuti - both of whom are close to Thaksin.

In the past the government had neither trusted nor assigned Sihanart to be in charge of any important cases.

Sihanart was suspected of having leaked information to red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan who revealed that some people on a financial blacklist of the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation had paid bribes to be removed from the list, a security agency source at the CRES meeting said.

"Several senior figures in the government saw Sihanart, who attended the CRES meeting, as a person who favoured red shirts - so they doubted whether he gave inside information to the red leader," the source said.

The withdrawal of the appointment could be interpreted as a determination not to appoint Sihanart - and the government is trying to buy time until it can get rid of Sihanart. It could also be the reason the Democrat-led government left the AMLO secretary-general position vacant for almost two years.

It is no surprise why the ruling Democrat Party won't appoint Sihanart. The AMLO chief is an important and influential post. AMLO is an agency that is able to order the freezing of assets of wrongdoers and investigate the money transactions of any group, according to the AMLO bill.

AMLO has been used in the past as a government tool to go after rivals. For example, in Thaksin's reign, he allegedly ordered AMLO to investigate money transactions of his rivals, including several media people.

Sihanart's reaction to the withdrawal was that he did not know about it.

"In the past, I have been impartial and don't take sides with anyone," he said.

Sihanart said he was qualified to be AMLO chief as he was nominated by the correct selection process. Annop showed his vision as a candidate, but finally the selection committee chose Sihanart and proposed him to the minister and the Cabinet respectively, he said.

"I don't know where the problem is. It will not be a problem if Cabinet appoints me or not. I will continue my work," Sihanart said.

If Cabinet finally decides to appoint someone other than Sihanart, it remains to be seen whether he will file a lawsuit against the government for unfair treatment.

-- The Nation 2010-12-22

The last thing Thailand needs is a close ally of Thaksin on the "inside".

He was chosen by those with the authority to choose him and, based on a ceteris paribus assumption, he should be given the post. Under normal circumstances it would unreasonable that he is not given the post due to his associations and it would be fairer to replace the committee who voted him in on grounds of corruption.

But my gut feeling tells me that a close ally of Thaksin, who used the anti-money laundering commission to intimidate and silence his detractors whilst being widely known to have laundered billions of Baht himself, should not be given this particular post on a permanent basis - I think that most people from the whole of the social spectrum in Thailand would raise their eyebrows otherwise (even Thaksin's supporters acknowledge that he was corrupt enough to set a new standard in corruption).

On the other hand, he has been acting secretary general for years now. He already has the expertise and he is already doing the job, and will continue to do so until a permanent secretary general comes in.

Maggie Thatcher made inroads into the UK 'Buggins turn' mentality. Talent, expertise honesty and dedication should decide.

Maybe the brave lady who is (used to be?) Auditor General would be interested in the job. Change the rules and let this miserable Thaksin sycophant sue. It should be easy to arrange that he will have gone up a chimney before the case comes to court.