Before the start of today's special session of the outgoing Senate, Upper House whips will discuss reducing the number of members of the committee that will check the backgrounds of candidates for the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), outgoing Senator Sawai Prammanee said yesterday.

Sawai, who heads Senate Speaker Suchon Chaleekrua's legal advisory team, said that according to the law, the panel should have 11 members, not 22.

He said the law had been effective since Manoonkrit Roopkachorn's tenure as Senate speaker. However, the regulation was waived to allow the heads of the 22 Senate committees to sit on the background-checking panel.

The number of members - 11 or 22 - was not the point, he said, stressing that a speedy process was needed as the NCCC positions had been vacant for a long time.

"The number [11] isn't being supported as a means of blocking the vote - it's in accordance with the regulations, which were waived until we could get used to [the background-checking process]. It's not a problem. It depends on the meeting's resolution - 11 or 22 or all 192 senators will do, I don't mind," he said.

The proposal to limit the number of panel members to 11 has been criticised as an attempt to remove "difficult" members who did not vote according to the views held by the majority of the Senate, and to delay the nomination process.

Sawai said squabbling senators would never agree on anything, but regulations were regulations. Furthermore, the media should not confuse the public about the issue, he said.

Some of the 18 NCCC candidates had their backgrounds checked during the last selection process, which was ultimately overturned by the courts.

Outgoing Ubon Ratchathani Senator Nirun Phitakwatchara said he would propose that the background-check committee comprise the same 22 members as last time.

The last committee, which was led by outgoing Maha Sarakham Senator Thongbai Thongpao and included outgoing Bangkok Senator Chirmsak Pinthong, did check some candidates, so if the committee reformed it might need to check only the new one, Nirun said.

Sawai said he had not seen the agenda for establishing a selection process to fill the vacant Election Commission (EC) seats. However, today's special session had a specific agenda and the Constitution Court had ruled that the outgoing Senate had no authority to remove or endorse EC members, he said.

 Bancha Khaengkhan

 The Nation