'Rebel' senators on NCCC selection team
Senators-elect observe a meeting of outgoing senators at Parliament yesterday. At the meeting, a committee was set up to check the backgrounds of short-listed candidates for the National Counter Corruption Commission. A new Upper House cannot convene beca
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The outgoing Senate yesterday ended the controversy over the make-up of the committee that will check out National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) candidates.
The Senate finally insisted the panel would have 22 members. It rejected a proposal that would have halved membership to 11. The panel includes outspoken senators Chirmsak Pinthong, Thongbai Thongpao, Maleerat Kaewka and Vallop Tangkananurak. Senator Sawai Prammanee, who heads Senate Speaker Suchon Chaleekrua's legal advisory team, had argued on Sunday that, according to law, the panel should have 11 members, not 22. The proposal to limit the panel to 11 had been criticised as an attempt to remove "defiant" members who did not vote according to the Senate majority view, and to delay the nomination process. Senate Speaker Suchon denied he attempted to delay the nominations, which he agreed, had taken some time to complete. The NCCC seats have been vacant since last year when the Supreme Court found all nine commissioners guilty of improperly raising their salaries without Parliamentary approval. Meanwhile, Senator Damrong Bhudtan alleged selections of several independent agencies in recent years had been interfered with. Many Senators were lobbied to select "fixed candidates". "It would be a waste of time to appoint a background-checking panel if no one in the Senate listened to what it finds out, as we all know what the results will be," he said.
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