PM defends wife on graft claim
Prayut hit with legal threat by opposition
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has defended his wife, Naraporn, who the opposition accused of being linked to irregularities in the deal to install a biometric system for the Immigration Bureau.
On the third day of the censure debate yesterday, Gen Prayut said his wife had nothing to do with the deal as claimed by Pheu Thai MP Wisarn Techatheerawat.
Mr Wisarn said the biometric project, with a median price set at 1.7 billion baht, had initially been launched in 2016, but scrapped because there were no bidders.
The project was later revived with new terms of reference and a higher median price of 2.1 billion baht, and a consortium apparently won the bid despite not providing collateral or having any experience in the installation of biometric systems.
It signed the contract in 2017, and appended to the contract was a requirement that the work be finished by May, 2019, or the contractor will have to pay 5 million baht per day if the deadline was missed.
Mr Wisarn said that in October 2019, the Immigration Bureau told the national police chief, who had proposed the biometric system in the first place, that the consortium was falling behind in its work and there was a problem hooking it up with the immigration database.
Despite its tardiness, the consortium negotiated an extension to the deadline and changed the brand of the biometric devices, which were bought at highly-inflated prices.
The MP claimed an executive of the consortium had attended the “Programme for Senior Executives on Justice Administration Batch 16”, at which Ms Naraporn — whom he referred to as a “madam behind Government House”
— and the police general who had initiated the project were also present.
Mr Wisarn said the project has caused damage to the state and he planned to file a petition the National Anti-Corruption Commission against Gen Prayut for alleged malfeasance and dereliction of duty under Section 157 of the Criminal Code.
Gen Prayut shot back saying it was unfair to assume that people participating in the same study would be complicit in wrongdoing.
“If there is anything wrong, it affects an individual. I trust my wife. Her name has been abused many times,” he said, adding “my wife has always warned to never engage in corruption”.
He also said the agency behind the contract may be to blame for not preparing the groundwork, which contributed to the slow installation progress.
I trust my wife. Her name has been abused many times.
GEN PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA
PRIME MINISTER
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha faces the prospect of being taken to the Constitutional Court over his allegedly unlawful occupation of an army residence.
Prasert Chanthararuangthong, a Nakhon Ratchasima MP for the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, told parliament during yesterday’s censure debate that Gen Prayut’s tenancy of the army house constituted a conflict of interest.
The MP said Gen Prayut, who is also defence minister, should have moved out of the house when he retired as army chief on Sept 30, 2014 and that by staying on free of charge he defied army regulations, which disqualified him as prime minister.
“It should not be up to the army chief to decide who gets to remain in military houses beyond their retirement,” Mr
Prasert said.
The MP was attacking army chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong, who said earlier that retired top brass can stay on in army accommodation if they continue to work in public office for the national interest. He said such people include the prime minister and senators.
Mr Prasert countered that it was hard to gauge what qualified as contributing to national interest, and that no exception could be made on military house tenancy. He added that Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda, while serving as army chief, had specified clearly in army regulations that only incumbent officers and those contracted to work for the armed forces are eligible for military houses.
The other armed forces have fixed deadlines for vacating military accommodation. Navy officers must vacate within 90 days of retiring while air force officers must leave seven days before retirement, according to Mr Prasert. Water and electricity charges at Gen Prayut’s army house amounted to an estimated one million baht since he retired, he added.
He said Gen Prayut had disregarded the regulations and he planned to petition the Constitutional Court to remove him as prime minister.
Gen Prayut decline to comment on the allegation, saying he would leave the matter to be decided by the army. He told reporters last week that, as prime minister, he needed to stay in the army-owned residence for reasons of security. However, said he he would move out once he was no longer premier.
Earlier, Gen Anupong, who is also a target of the censure debate, admitted that he too was still staying in a military house before adding he was ready to comply with army regulations.
Gen Pornpipat Benyasri, chief of Defence Forces, said yesterday the new rule set by Gen Apirat not only applied to retired officers but also to non-commissioned officers and state employees who stayed on in military housing.