The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has decided to drop five impeachment cases against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and has ordered additional probes into three pending cases, NACC member Klanarong Chantik said yesterday.
On the other hand, the NACC members resolved with a 6:2 vote to file a malfeasance case in the Supreme Court against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for ordering the Finance Ministry to take care of the debt restructuring at Thai Petrochemical Industry. The NACC unanimously agreed not to file a similar charge against others, Klanarong said.
Including the latest SMS complaint, seven other impeachment cases have been filed against the PM since he took office on December 17, 2008.
In the first case, Abhisit was targeted for his election boycott in 2006, which his opponents alleged was unconstitutional conduct. The nine-member NACC ruled unanimously to drop the case on grounds that Abhisit did not hold the prime minister's post at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.
Under the Constitution, impeachment proceedings can only be activated if violations were committed by invoking the power of the office in question.
In the second case, Abhisit was accused of violating the charter and breaking from political traditions by causing an alliance switch to allow his government to come to power.
The NACC decided to drop this case because it happened when Abhisit had no executive power.
In the third case, Abhisit was accused of violating the charter by giving Kasit Piromya the foreign minister's post.
The NACC decided to launch an additional probe into the matter. Kasit was not in office when he took to the stage during the yellow-shirt rally at Suvarnabhumi Airport and the government is currently sponsoring a draft legislation on airport safety. However, this draft is seen as lenient, because if it is enacted it would be favourable to the yellow shirts since the penalty for besieging an airport would be a mere fine instead of the more serious punishment related to terrorism.
The NACC has ordered an investigation to see if Kasit is connected to the draft before it rules on whether Abhisit should be impeached on the issue.
As for the fourth case, the NACC chose to suspend the investigation into Abhisit's alleged interference in the Culture Ministry reshuffle, because this case is linked to a separate probe involving the conduct of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban. The NACC will address Abhisit's side of the case once the investigation into Suthep's role is completed.
In the fifth case, Abhisit faces a complaint related to a Bt258-million donation made to the Democrat Party. The NACC dropped the case on grounds that the donation was made in 2004, before Abhisit took office.
In the sixth case, Abhisit is accused of neglecting to safeguard territorial integrity and national sovereignty in the disputed area near Preah Vihear Temple. The NACC dropped the case after finding that Abhisit government had consistently protested against any territorial violations and did not condone Cambodia's decision to construct a road near the temple.
The commission also dropped its investigation into another case, because it found that Abhisit had not invoked his prime ministerial powers when his Democrat Party certified Thanin Chaisamut as the electoral candidate for the Satun Provincial Organisation Administration.
The NACC has ordered further investigation into the tax implications related to the SMS case before it decides whether or not to kick off impeachment proceedings against Abhisit and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij, Klanarong said.
Even though sending out public-service text messages has been prevalent since 2003, the Opposition is questioning the income-tax waiver Korn granted for SMS revenue this time around.
In the past, people did not respond to public service SMS, but in this case they replied to Abhisit's message, generating Bt3 per reply for mobile-phone operators.