ABOUT Politics
Warong Dechgitvigrom keeping tabs on widening rice-pledge probe as NACC pursues new G2G case ❖ PPRP forges political alliance with Bhumjaithai to broaden its reach ❖ Somsak’s party feeling confident the PPRP will pick up as many as 150 House seats
Whistleblower still on watch
Former Democrat Party MP for Phitsanulok Warong Dechgitvigrom says he has not lost sight of the issue that has catapulted him to political fame — the controversial rice-pledging scheme launched under a former administration.
Dr Warong said he is still keeping a close watch on the expansion of a probe into a fake government-to-government (G2G) rice case by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Known as a whistleblower for exposing irregularities in the rice-pledging scheme initiated under the watch of fugitive former premier Yingluck Shinawatra, Dr Warong is keen to know who else might have been involved in the case and whether they will be brought to justice.
The NACC recently said it had started pursuing another rice-deal case against more suspects.
On Aug 25 last year, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions found Boonsong Teriyapirom, a former commerce minister in the Yingluck Shinawatra government, and 16 others guilty in a case involving bogus G2G rice deals.
He was given a 42-year prison sentence.
At the time, Dr Warong handed some evidence including a number of copies of cashier’s cheques issued for payments associated with the rice deals to the NACC.
Based on the cheques, the NACC has expanded its probe to find more wrongdoers in the latest case.
A source said the NACC sent officials to question Boonsong at the Bangkok Remand Prison several times as the anti-graft agency started pursuing the other rice case.
The source said it was possible Boonsong may have been asked to come clean about who was behind the fake G2G rice deals and given information regarding the money trail that would lead to people “higher up” the food chain.
The source said the NACC had offered to treat Boonsong as a witness if he agreed to provide information that would lead to the real mastermind.
Previously, Boonsong reportedly made a cryptic remark by saying he “couldn’t tell” who was involved.
Dr Warong said the cheques he handed to the NACC in the case have led the agency to find an additional 1,288 cheques worth more than 19.3 billion baht.
They were issued with payments of another four G2G rice deals between January and June 2013, he said.
Boonsong was axed from the cabinet on June 30 of that year.
“If Boonsong was not involved in the second batch of rice deals, which were made before he was removed from the cabinet, and if he had to act on anyone’s instruction, he might be exonerated,” Dr Warong said.
“His information would be useful in pursuing another case against the real culprits.”
In its ruling on Aug 25 of last year, the Supreme Court found Boonsong, former deputy commerce minister Poom Sarapol and 15 others including other former government officials guilty of various charges in the G2G deals.
The court ruled the rice-purchase contracts in question were not G2G but involved sales of the pledged rice to private companies that sold them to a foreign country.
According to the court, the sales did not meet the criteria for G2G deals.
Additionally, the rice was not shipped to China as claimed by the defendants.
Boonsong and Poom were found guilty of violating a 1999 act known as the anti-price collusion law, as well as other laws.
Poom was handed a 36-year jail term. The other key figures found guilty included Manas Soiploy, former chief of the Foreign Trade Department, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison as well as his deputy Tikhumporn Natvaratat, who received a 32-year sentence.
Akharapong Theepwatchara, ex-director of the department’s Rice Trade Administration Bureau, was given 24 years.
Rice trader Apichart “Sia Piang’’ Chansakulporn, an executive at rice exporter Siam Indica Co Ltd, was sentenced to 48 years for assisting state authorities in price collusion.
Along with his company, he was ordered to pay 16.9 billion baht in damages to the Finance Ministry.
Bhumjaithai friend or foe?
The Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) has forged a political alliance with the Bhumjaithai Party as the pro-regime party looks to rely on the support of the latter which has a stronghold in provinces in the lower Northeast such as Buri Ram and Surin, a PPRP source said.
In the upcoming election expected on Feb 24, the PPRP wants to reduce the chance of the Pheu Thai Party winning House seats in the region, so the PPRP needs the clout and influence of Bhumjaithai’s two key figures to achieve the goal, the source said.
They are Newin Chidchob, the veteran Buri Ram politician-turned sports impresario and cofounder of Bhumjaithai, and Bhumjaithai’s newly re-elected leader Anutin Charnvirakul.
Recently, the pair seem to have been gushing with confidence as Bhumjaithai has grown in size and political stature, catapulting it from a medium-sized party to major player, the source said.
The Bhumjaithai Party now claims to have expanded its membership base to some 3 million nationwide after the regime partially lifted the political activities ban in September, allowing parties to resume certain activities including the recruitment of new members.
As a result, Bhumjaithai’s current membership base is said to outnumber that of the Democrat Party which claims to have more than 2 million members.
But after the regime issued a Section 44 order in December last year to “reset” the status of political parties’ members, the number of Democrat members has now dwindled to less than 200,000, it was reported.
Under the order, members of existing parties had to produce letters to confirm their membership and pay party fees within 30 days of April 1 or they would lose their status.
The Democrats cried foul over the order, saying it was nearly impossible for the more than 2 million party members to register with the party within that time frame.
The move has fuelled suspicions that the regime is paving the way for a military-backed political party, understood to be the PPRP, to draw members from existing parties to back it and support Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to reclaim the premiership after the election, should he desire.
Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana concurrently serves as the PPRP leader and Science and Technology Minister, with Suvit Maesincee as its deputy leader.
Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong is the party secretary-general, while PM’s Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool was appointed the party spokesman.
Through the influence of Mr Newin and Mr Anutin, it is not surprising that Bhumjaithai is now well-equipped to draw former MPs from other political parties into its fold in the same way the PPRP has, the source said.
That is why some key figures in the PPRP are now unnerved by the rise of Bhumjaithai, the source added.
Another source in the Bhumjaithai said the party, which is now confident in its growing significance, has begun to bargain with those in power to transfer government officials affiliated with the party to constituencies in its stronghold ahead of the election.
Recently, Mr Anutin also stepped forward to criticise the PPRP’s move to support Gen Prayut returning to power after the poll if he decides to do so. As a result of this, key figures of the PPRP have lately kept their distance from Bhumjaithai, and turned to court some key Democrat figures who are more “accommodating” to the regime, the source said.
This is despite the fact that Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has constantly criticised the PPRP for serving as a vehicle for Gen Prayut’s aspirations.
While the PPRP has taken Mr Abhisit’s criticism in stride as it is well aware of his commitment to democratic ideologies, the PPRP appears to have found Bhumjaithai’s “arrogant” attitude a little harder to swallow, the source said.
PPRP bullish over chances
Key members of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) are feeling increasingly bullish about the upcoming election with many believing the party will pick up as many as 150 House seats.
Among them is veteran politician Somsak Thepsuthin who has been put in charge of the party’s election campaign.
He predicts a win of 120 seats from 350 constituencies up for grabs and the remaining 30 from the party-list system.
The member of Sam Mitr (Three Allies) group, which served as the PPRP’s recruiting arm before joining it last month, claims he is not making the figure up.
His growing optimism is based on positive feedback from the public who stand to gain from the government’s initiatives to improve their well-being.
According to Mr Somsak who was on tour in the lower northern region last week to recruit new members, the PPRP will gain ground and capture more seats if the people grow more aware of what the government has been doing.
Critics, however, are not seeing eye to eye with him, either over the policies the government has recently undertaken or his expectation about the outcome of the election.
Concerns are growing that the regime may be trying to shore up the electoral base of the PPRP, known as the pro-military party, through a massive cash handout scheme and is doing it under the guise of the state welfare scheme.
According to the government, it had been working on the packages for a long time before they were approved by the cabinet. It has urged critics not to rouse opinions against the government.
Critics question the timing of the 86.9-billionbaht splurge on low-income earners, the elderly and retirees, which was approved by the cabinet last month, with an election just around the corner.
The government also has another scheme in the pipeline — the Finance Ministry is looking to implement a value-added tax (VAT) refund programme to provide an economic boost during the Chinese New Year early next year.
Critics again suspect the programme is politically motivated as the tentative Feb 24 election date looks firmer than ever.
Despite all these attempts to put political rivals on the back foot, the Democrat Party and the Pheu Thai Party doubt that the PPRP will grab as many as 150 House seats as its key figures boast.
According to sources from these two major parties, the PPRP members are wrong to think that voters will cast ballots for their party just because they welcome these schemes.
The real contest will begin when an election campaign gets under way and all the political parties are free to pitch their policies and implement their campaign strategies.