Samak on the attack in row over honesty

The Nation

Samak said Chuan was setting unreasonable standards for the position of prime minister when he said the premier should not be tainted by any offences.

"Luckily, I have been involved in only two legal issues - libel and my involvement in the purchase of fire trucks by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration," Samak said.

The libel charge is a misdemeanour and has been exempted from the qualifications of a government leader, he said. And the graft investigation on the fire trucks deal has been politicised to discredit him as prime minister, he added.

Samak said he took pride in not being a corrupt politician.

Taking a swipe at Chuan, Samak said: "I have my honesty standard unlike a former party leader whose younger brother was convicted of corruption and became a fugitive for 20 years," he said, referring to the embezzlement litigation against Raluek Leekpai, Chuan's younger brother.

Chuan said he would hold a press conference today to respond to Samak's remarks.

Raluek said his past was complicated. "But I am not a bad person as some people try to portray me to be," he said.

He said he might enter politics in four years in order to restore his reputation, although he wanted to live a quiet life in his Trang hometown.

Raluek was the manager of a bank branch in Songkhla when he was linked to missing bank funds. He fled to Taiwan and returned home in 2004 following the expiry of statutory limitations.

Democrat Party deputy spokesman Sathit Pitudecha said Samak was being nasty by dragging Raluek, a third party, into his row with Chuan.