Parliament 15 Oct – ‘Wan Nor’ bounces back after audio clip of politicians involved with ‘The Icon’ tightens the screws of 35 committees, appoints outsiders to sit on the working group, urges to remove names if they are not trustworthy, otherwise they must be responsible for damaging the reputation of the parliament, orders security guards to strictly control outsiders entering and exiting the parliament, fearing that there will be impersonators, repeating the 2 cases that have already been reported.
Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, President of the House of Representatives, talked about the progress of the committee to investigate the case of the audio clip of a conversation between ‘Boss Paul’ Mr. Waratpol Woratworakul, founder and CEO of The Icon Group, and someone claiming to be a politician. This morning (October 15), he summoned the Secretary-General of the House of Representatives and the committee responsible for the security of the parliament to talk about many issues, but specifically about this audio
clip, which did not specify who it was. Therefore, if someone reports it but refers to a committee and the committee reports that it has been damaged, the parliament must take further action. However, it is not just the committee that will file a complaint. If the people involved and have been damaged by this audio clip, at least the conversation partner, if they can say that they have been damaged, they can come and report to the parliament. The parliament will take action because it is related to the matter of that committee that has been damaged, so we must take further action.
Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor continued that for other matters related to the matter of people who falsely claimed to be on the committee and took pictures in the parliament to use for the benefit of demanding various matters from outsiders, which caused damage, 2 cases have already been reported to the police. The first case was about a woman wearing a civil servant’s uniform, which was reported since August. As for the man who took pictu
res in the meeting room, when looking at the video, it was the picture from September 11 because on that day, the meeting considered selecting the 2nd Deputy Speaker of the House. When the meeting ended, the parliament closed. During the closed period, the meeting officers were taking documents to the meeting room to prepare for the next meeting. During that time, the man entered the meeting room for a few minutes and took pictures to show that he was in the meeting room. In this case, a report was filed at the police station on October 8. However, these two people already have 10 cases in various courts, so they took the opportunity to cause trouble at the parliament again. The parliament has already taken action.
Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor continued that he had instructed the secretary-general of the parliament and security officers that from now on we will have to be stricter about outsiders coming into the parliament. He will also issue a letter to the chairs of all 35 standing committees and the chairs of sp
ecial committees to investigate individuals who are appointed as advisors or working groups of the committees to see if any individuals are untrustworthy. They should be considered for removal from the committees because if an incident occurs, no matter which committee, if an advisor or working group falsely claims to be a member and causes damage, the person who appoints them, the chair of the committee, will have to be held responsible for at least the code of ethics because the code of ethics for members of parliament covers the families of MPs and the families of committee members. If the incident is serious, it must be sent to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to take legal action. However, if it is not serious, there will be punishment according to the procedures of the parliament. If it is a committee member but not an MP, they will be dismissed. However, if they have committed a crime related to a criminal case, we must take action without exception by having the police officers take acti
on to prevent damage to the public and prevent them from believing that the person is someone involved with the parliament. There are not many cases that have occurred, but if there are, we must fix them.
When asked whether the establishment of a committee to investigate the impersonators would require the establishment of a central committee, because if the committees investigated by themselves, they might be exempted, the Speaker of the House said that in fact, the House already has a committee to consider this matter. However, if it is about corruption or impersonation, the House of Representatives’ Anti-Corruption and Suppression Committee can be asked, or if it is related to consumers, the Consumer Protection Committee can call the relevant persons to clarify. However, if it is beyond the committee’s authority, it can be sent to the House, which will then take action. If it is a criminal offense, it will be sent to the police officers. If it is an ethical offense, it will be investigated by the House’s
Ethics Committee. There are several subcommittees in the Ethics Committee, each of which has police officers, prosecutors, and former judges as members. However, the process may be slower than filing a complaint directly with the NACC. For example, in the past, the Anti-Corruption and Suppression Committee, chaired by Pol. Gen. Sereepisuth Temiyaves, had many cases where they did not file a complaint with the House but instead filed a complaint with the NACC, and 1-2 people were punished. Therefore, ethics complaints can be filed with the House’s Ethics Committee. Or you can file a complaint with the NACC. Once the NACC has investigated and found that there is a basis, they will be able to forward the case to the Supreme Court.
When asked if the case of The Icon has been traced back to the committee in 2022, how can the current council investigate? Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor said that if the previous committee member has already left office, but if it continues to the current council, that person is still a commi
ttee member in that committee or has been appointed in this period, this council can investigate. However, even if the previous committee member has left office, if there is damage, outsiders can file a complaint by going to the police station.
When asked again whether it would damage the parliament, the Speaker of the House said that whatever is within the power and duty of the parliament must be done for the benefit of the people and for the credibility of the parliament because the committee works to help the people, but if the people do not trust it, it is not beneficial. Therefore, we must maintain the credibility and confidence of the people in our legislative system, which we are trying our best. It does not mean that we have to put them in jail, but at the very least we must build the confidence of the people and the legislative branch. -315-Thai News Agency
Source: Thai News Agency