Somsak and Nikom may escape impeachment

[webfact]

Somsak and Nikom may escape impeachment
The Nation

Though NLA accepted motion, many members likely to vote against it

BANGKOK: -- There is only a slim chance for the former Parliament president and his ex-deputy to be actually impeached by the National Legislative Assembly despite its decision yesterday to accept for consideration a motion against them, some assembly members predict.

The assembly is expected to start its hearing on the charges against former Parliament president Somsak Kiatsuranont and his former deputy Nikom Wairatpanij on November 24 and 25, NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said.

In a closed-door meeting that dragged on for more than three hours, the 177 NLA members present voted 87-75 to accept the impeachment petition filed by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

There were 15 abstentions in the secret balloting.

Somsak is also the former House of Representatives Speaker and Nikom the former Senate Speaker.

NLA sources said they did not think Somsak or Nikom would end up being impeached. One said it was unlikely that the 75 assembly members who voted against accepting the impeachment case for deliberation would vote to impeach the pair.

Support from at least three-fifths of the NLA, or 132 votes, is required to impeach a political officeholder.

"If this is combined with the 15 NLA members who abstained, it is clear what the result will be," said the source on condition of anonymity.

Another source agreed. "I can say with confidence that there will be no impeachment. There are still a lot of undercurrents, and national reconciliation is still the goal to be achieved," said the source, who also asked not to be named.

Nikom said he would testify on his own before the NLA on November 25. He would present videos of the parliamentary meetings in question as evidence to support his case.

The NLA members who took to the floor during the meeting were split as to whether an impeachment move should continue against Somsak and Nikom, according to NLA member Jetn Siratharanont, the whip spokesman.

One side viewed that the claimed offence and the penalty of impeachment were inscribed in the Constitution of 2007, which was abolished by the coup makers, so the impeachment case should be dropped.

The other side countered that there were still laws that could be applied in this situation, such as the anti-corruption law.

The consideration of the case is expected to take 30-45 days before the NLA rules on the impeachment issue, Jetn said.

The meeting resolved to call a secret vote because the NLA members wanted to avoid possible legal action by a third party. Unlike parliamentarians, the appointed NLA members have no legal immunity, he said.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said he expected any move by the NLA to impeach former elected officials to lead to problems. The issue is sensitive and requires careful treatment, he said.

Many people would not accept punishment handed down by an unelected legislature, while others were pushing for the NLA to ensure that the law is strictly followed, he said.

Amnuay Klangpha, a former Pheu Thai MP, said he was not disturbed about the impeachment issue, but he did not want to see a new round of political conflict.

Former Democrat MP Thaworn Senneam praised the NLA members for "doing their job as the legislative assembly".

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Somsak-and-Nikom-may-escape-impeachment-30247191.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-07

[NongKhaiKid]

Back scratching ?

All the public sees is yet more ' somebodys ' not answerable for anything.

[ChrisY1]

Spineless LNA........!

The influential win over justice again.

[RustBucket]

This is actually a fanfare announcement that it is business as usual in Thailand and everyone can look forward to more of the same in the future. Forget reforms, it is a smokescreen.

It goes to show that the NLA are as politically biased as everyone else. It is anything but neutral. Their first task and the division is already exposed for all to see.

Either that or the only reason for abstentions and 'no voters' is that they think they don't have the right to hear the case in the first place. It may not exactly mean they disagree that they deserve impeachment. they may all think they do deserve to be impeached, but just not up to them to handle it. But I doubt it, i think it is all about political leaning. pro/anti Thaksin and all that.

What this country needs is an actual people's revolution before it will wake up these criminals. The NLA are nothing more than an extension of the corrupt political elite.

Edited November 6, 2014 by RustBucket

[ramrod711]

Another source agreed. "I can say with confidence that there will be no impeachment. There are still a lot of undercurrents, and national reconciliation is still the goal to be achieved," said the source, who also asked not to be named.

Why no impeachment? This is Thailand, enough said.

[MobileContent]

I am not at all surprised.

[EricBerg]

... "and national reconciliation is still the goal to be achieved,"..

national reconciliation = not prosecute previous corrupt leadership = stupid = invitation to keep Thai history repeating itself

[SOTIRIOS]

...again....will justice ever be served......

[tx22cb]

The Coup leader promised that he would remove any member of the NLA if they did not perform their job efficiently, so let's fire the 87 who voted for impeachment (against the junta's wishes for reconciliation).

[smedly]

do a closed door deal with these criminals - we will not take you to court and jail you if you agree never to enter politics again

Then make sure to add a clause in the new constitution that anyone with any sort of conviction is banned from politics for life and not just 5 years

Those that have stolen tax payers money through corruption and/or abuse of power should still answer to the criminal justice system and be prosecuted

[EnglishJohn]

Yet another confirmation that Thailand is not capable of learning from history and hence why they keep on repeating it again and again.

In the UK, if a politician betrays his/her 'honour' in an official capacity then their career is finished immediately. - even if they didn't commit any crime. They all know it so they don't do it.

In Thailand, any corrupt politician who gets caught never apologises or gets punished - and they know it. So they don't care. The Thaksin audio clip was an excellent example. I'm still embarrassed for the country that no action whatsoever was taken about that. All involved should have crucified in the press and all involved should have resigned immediately. It is second on my list of disgraceful Pheu-Thai behaviour (after the Amnesty bill).

Why do I get the feeling all of this is pre-arranged in a deal with Thaksin.

[rickirs]

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do a closed door deal with these criminals - we will not take you to court and jail you if you agree never to enter politics again

Then make sure to add a clause in the new constitution that anyone with any sort of conviction is banned from politics for life and not just 5 years

Those that have stolen tax payers money through corruption and/or abuse of power should still answer to the criminal justice system and be prosecuted

Neither person has been convicted by a court nor even indicted for alleged criminal acts. The NCPO that has the power to judge and convict them in a military court has refused to be directly involved. So the authority of the NLA to take action against them would be on a purely ethical conduct basis for which they could be impeached. Your reference to "criminals" is merely inflammatory emotionalism.

[toybits]

Looks to me that we know who blinked first....

[Dogmatix]

Of course they will get off the hook. The interim constitution drafter admitted that he deliberated omitted to give the NLA the power to impeach the backlog of cases because it was "too hard". LOL.

Next step. Failure to impeach Yingluck followed by failure to prosecute her in the criminal court and people will start wondering what the was the point of the coup, since the reform process also seems to be going backwards.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Dogmatix

[jesimps]

Yet another confirmation that Thailand is not capable of learning from history and hence why they keep on repeating it again and again.

In the UK, if a politician betrays his/her 'honour' in an official capacity then their career is finished immediately. - even if they didn't commit any crime. They all know it so they don't do it.

In Thailand, any corrupt politician who gets caught never apologises or gets punished - and they know it. So they don't care. The Thaksin audio clip was an excellent example. I'm still embarrassed for the country that no action whatsoever was taken about that. All involved should have crucified in the press and all involved should have resigned immediately. It is second on my list of disgraceful Pheu-Thai behaviour (after the Amnesty bill).

Why do I get the feeling all of this is pre-arranged in a deal with Thaksin.

My goodness it took about a dozen posts before someone mentioned Thaksin. Surprised no one's blamed him for Ebola. Or have they?