Heat on Karun as house panel finds him guilty

A fact-finding report reached a unanimous decision concluding that Karun had assaulted Somkiart and used rude language, MP Vichet Panvichartkul said yesterday.

The report will be forwarded for the House's deliberation on punishment.

Karun could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thuagsuban said he wondered if Karun would keep his promise to quit his MP post.

"The Democrats will not demand his resignation but he must be accountable for what he said,'' Suthep.

He questioned whether Karun would be harshly punished since the PPP has the majority vote.

In a related development, PPP's Bangkok MP Wattana Sengpairoh said his group would not take action against Karun and it depended on the House to decide his fate.

He questioned the integrity of the House committee members probing the case, saying one of them was a politician from a political party and had made discriminatory comments against Karun about the incident before the investigation started.

"His comments discredited this investigation right from the beginning,'' he said.

Asked if he thought Karun should honour his words by resigning, Wattana said he did not want Karun to use emotions in making this decision.  "This quarrel started because one party was challenged to meet outside the meeting room and this means they both premeditatedly entered into a fight. If Karun has to resign, the rival MP must also resign,'' he said.