NLA to pass bill to prevent politicians' concealing assets

NLA speaker Meechai Ruchuphan called an assembly of NLA members to deliberate the second and third readings on the bill of offences over conflicts of interest after an NLA committee headed by PM's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan completed the revision of the bill.

The committee decided to add to the first draft the definition of relatives to include inlaws of children and unregistered wives.

The first draft defined relatives as immediate and close family - grandparents, parents, descendants, siblings, uncles and aunts, while on the spouse's side it covers parents, grandparents, siblings and children of siblings.

Apart from the conflict of interest by bureaucrats and politicians, the bill will ban the use of state confidential information for vested interests, or the use of state assets for self interest.

The bill will seek to ban officials from approving state projects to favour anyone both directly and indirectly and also ban officials and their wives from influencing the decisions of authorities in charge of any state projects.

The bill will also punish those who receive benefits from any actions by state officials and their spouses.

Under this legislation, gifts, money and any assets that are given to state officials or their spouses for their official duties, even though the givers may state that the assets are given on a personal basis, must be seized by the state.//dpa