Senate baulks at method of choice for ntc candidates

After a large number of senators took the floor to point out what they said were flawed nominations, NTC selection committee chairman Thanirat Siripachana agreed to conduct a review before renominating the candidates or proposing others for debate by the upper chamber.

The upper chamber is tasked to recommend the NTC

candidates for royal appointments.

The selection committee submitted two lists of candidates - one to fill a vacant seat due to resignation and another to fill three seats upon the expiry of terms by a lottery among six NTC members.

The first list includes two candidates, Thamnoon Chulmaneechote and Sirichai Sakornratanakul, for the Senate to pick one.

The second list comprise six candidates for three nominations.

The six are Thawatchai Chitpanan, Thamnoon Chul -maneechote, Surin Roengarom, Somphol Wanikphan, Sirichai Sakornratanakul and Woradet Amornworapipat.

The senators, including Lertrat Ratanawanit and Warin Thiamcharas, raised a number of objections to the selection process.

One key point was that the two lists were suspiciously submitted for a single debate session and contained duplicate names.

Thamnoon and Sirichai appear in both lists.

Senator Tuang Anthachai warned his fellow lawmakers not to vote on the nominations because litigation on the selection process is still under judicial review by the Administrative Court.

The Senate should await the outcome of the judicial review before finalising the nominations, he said.

Due to legal and administrative disputes, the NTC selection process has dragged on for more than a year even though the rules prescribe a 30-day deadline.