The chief of the Federation of Thai Industries is confident that the Central Administrative Court will accept the election process for FTI chairman as it was transparent. FTI chairman Santi
Vilassakdanont said the industrial body expected his successor, who will hold office from 2010 to 2012, to take over on April 20. Santi said he was confident the court would finally rule that the election process yesterday was legal, and the election result would not be nullified.
"The Central Administrative Court is considering whether the FTI is a private sector entity or a state agency. If the court rules that the FTI is not a state agency, the court cannot accept the case. The Central Administrative Court can only hear cases between state bodies, or the state and the private sector. The petition of the joint candidates, who are representatives of private firms, for the post of FTI chairman, and FTI seems to be a conflict between two private parties," he said.
He added that if the court on Monday had considered the election process as not transparent, it would have ordered the FTI not to proceed with the election yesterday. As the FTI was able to run the election smoothly, Santi said he was confident the process would be accepted.
The Central Administrative Court, on Monday, rejected the plea of joint candidates - Suraporn Simakulthorn, managing director of Kulthorn Kirby, and Adisak Rohitasune, vice president of Asian Honda Motor - seeking an injunction to the FTI election for chairman. So, the FTI's chairman election yesterday (March 23) could be proceeded.
The Central Administrative Court's reason for the rejection was that if the court decided to stay the election, it would be interfering in the operations of the FTI.
Suraporn said although the Central Administrative Court had denied the petition by him and his joint candidate, the court could consider his petition if the court finds the election process was not transparent as stated.
"If the court considers the election process was not transparent, it means the election is unacceptable. But if the court rejects the petition again and considers that the election process was not against the law, I will accept the court's ruling and the election result," he said.
On March 19, Suraporn submitted a petition to the Central Administrative Court and asked the court to stop the FTI's chairman election process as he and Adisak believed the process lacked transparency.
Earlier, the joint candidates for the FTI chairman had asked Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungrueng to stop the election process but failed to get him to act.
As part of the election process yesterday, the recruitment committee selected 226 FTI members from among 6,000 eligible members nationwide to be on the board of directors. The selected 226 directors along with 114 appointed men from 39 industries and 75 provincial representatives will be the FTI's directors to choose the new chairman.
Payungsak Chartsutipol, FTI's vice chairman and one of the candidates for chairmanship, said besides strengthening the competitiveness of Thai industries, he would strive for unity among the FTI's members and seek more support from private companies for the FTI's operations.
"During the election process, it seems that there was conflict between two sides of our members. I will restore the unity among our members as fast as I can," he said.
About 2,600 members nationwide attended the FTI's annual meeting yesterday. One of the items on the agenda was to select the 226 directors of the new board. The election environment was vigorous after the Central Administrative Court rejected the joint candidate's petition. Most members seem confident that Payungsak will be elected as the new FTI chairman.
