Court Verdict On Thawil's Transfer Due In One Month

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Court verdict on Thawil's transfer due in one month

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Merit System Protection Commission - the civil-service court - will hand down its decision a month after hearing testimony that the government has no justification to transfer a top security official.

Before the commission yesterday, Thawil Pliensri accused Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of tampering with the meritocracy system by removing him from his post as secretary-general of the National Security Council to pave the way for a favourite to become national police chief.

Last year, the Cabinet approved Thawil's transfer to an inactive advisory post at Government House and handed his job at the NSC to then-national police chief General Wichean Potephosree, who was subsequently replaced by General Priewpan Damapong, the former brother-in-law of ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"I have testified that the prime minister did not act in accordance with the merit system as sanctioned by the Constitution and the Civil Service Regulations," Thawil said.

He added that Yingluck wanted to place a favourite in the post of national police chief, hence targeting him for an unjustified transfer for the sake of political expediency, which was a gross violation of the merit system. He further stated that the prime minister had used a number of false reasons to justify his transfer.

One of the reasons she cited was that she wanted him to be moved from an executive to a policy-making position, when in reality, he said, his new position had nothing to do with policies. Thawil said his new job only required him to address administrative complaints and give advice if sought.

"For the past five months, I have been given small jobs that are not on par with my pay scale or my experience," he said.

Thawil said he hoped his fight would help restore the system of meritocracy and deter the government from dispensing favours.

Vowing to fight to the fullest extent of the law, he said that should he fail to win his old job back he would still have the option to plead his case in the Administrative Court.

The commission was previously scheduled to rule this week, but extended its deadline by a month after the government cited the flood crisis as grounds for needing more time to file a rebuttal.

-- The Nation 2012-02-11