Published on January 27, 2006
The Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary has rejected the list of nine nominees for the posts on the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), Senate Speaker Suchon Chaleekrua admitted Friday.
Suchon disclosed that the rejection was made in a letter issued on Friday on ground that the Senate appeared to have not selected the nine nominees in accordance with the laws.
The nine nominees, who are believed to have close connection with the Thaksin government, were selected by the Senate, which is dominated by pro-government members, while there were only 17 candidates, instead of 18 as required by the Constitution. But, Suchon said, the rejection would not require a new selection process. On the contrary, the selection committee will simply recruit another candidate to propose to the Senate along with the previous 17 candidates for the upper chamber to re-select the new final list of nine nominees. Suchon said he had consulted with the principal private secretary who pointed out that the legal problem related to the current nine nominees that they were selected when there were less than 18 candidates as required by the Constitution. Suchon said the issue will be brought to the attention of the Senate once Parliament reconvenes its ordinary session in March. But Suchon, who submitted the nomination list to the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary, refused to take responsibility over the issue. He said the issued had been screened by the general and legal affairs of the Senate Secretariat before he decided to send the list of nine nominees for a royal endorsement. He said he had done everything in line with the resolution of the Senate. Earlier a group of 40 senators tried to seek a ruling from the Constitution Court as to whether the selection of the nine nominees were unconstitutional or not but the parliament ombudsmen and Parliament President Bhokin Bhalakula declined to forward the group’s request to the court.
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