Whips urge NLA nepotism halt
Pressure mounts on members to fire kin
National Legislative Assembly (NLA) whips are calling on members who have appointed relatives as aides to retroactively end their employment effective from March 1.
The move comes amid growing public criticism.
Surachai Liangboonlertchai, NLA deputy president, hopes members would agree to heed the call in order to set the standard for future politicians.
He said several NLA members have already terminated the employment of their relatives.
Mr Surachai said the NLA accepts the criticism, despite the fact that members employing relatives does not breach any rules or regulations.
At least 70 NLA members had appointed family members, including wives and children, as personal specialists, personal experts, and personal assistants with monthly salaries of 24,000 baht, 20,000 baht, and 15,000 baht respectively.
Poldej Pinpratheep, chair of a National Reform Committee (NRC) panel on the reform of ethics, morality and good governance, said that generally it is improper for NLA members to appoint family members at public expense.
However, he said appointing relatives who are capable and qualified for the job should be acceptable and appointments should be considered on a caseby-case basis.
Mr Poldej also said the proposed national ethics assembly, which would be set up to scrutinise the moral standards and behaviour of politicians, would also address a similar problem involving the employment of politicians’ family members, with their salaries drawn from public funds in the future.
The NRC on Monday approved in principle a bill to set up a national ethics assembly to issue a code of ethics for political-office holders and companies doing business with the state.
NLA member Tuang Untachai, who appointed his son as a personal assistant, yesterday hit back at those who criticised the members.
He said MPs and senators in previous governments had also hired relatives at public expense, but nobody had spoken out against it.
“Those who are now criticising the NLA may have a hidden agenda to discredit it,” Mr Tuang said.
“My son represents me when he meets people in the provinces, attending their weddings, ordinations, and funerals.
“Other [former] MPs also did the same. If critics say it is not good to use state money to hire my son, I will use my own money to hire him, instead,’’ Mr Tuang said.
NLA member Jetn Sirathranont, who appointed his daughter as a personal assistant, said she quit on Feb 15 to become an assistant judge, adding that he hired her to help him with legal matters while she was looking for work.
However, Mr Jetn also reiterated the point that no existing regulations prohibit the employment of relatives and that former MPs and senators did the same.
He said he did not oppose hiring family members who are capable and qualified for the job, but there must be clear criteria governing the matter.
Earlier in the day, Srisuwan Janya, a social activist led a group called Thai Constitution Protection to lodge a petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) asking the anti-graft agency to investigate the appointment of relatives as aides.
Mr Srisuwan asked the NACC to investigate members as well as House chairman Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, the secretary-general and the deputy for the Secretariat of the Senate involved with the appointments.
The actions of NLA members has created the possibility for conflict of interests by appointing family members as advisers and aides, he said.
The NLA members have breached Section 4 of the 1999 organic law on counter-corruption and the Senate code of conduct, he said.
“I’m surprised to hear Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha say they weren’t wrong,” Mr Srisuwan said, arguing that Gen Prayut should have a better understanding that legal matters are a sensitive issue for people and should be dealt with properly.
Meanwhile, NACC secretary-general Sansern Poljiak said the complaint will be examined in detail to see if the NACC has sufficient authority to take up the case.
In regards to the conflict of interest accusation, the NACC law will only cover the prime minister and local administration organisation leaders, not senators, MPs or NLA members.
Thailand has long been plagued by nepotism — the behaviour and practice of those in power and influence of favouring relatives and friends by giving them jobs. Nepotism has close links to patronage and cronyism and can easily lead to corruption. This kind of behaviour has afflicted this country for decades. It has been the topic of repeated calls for reform. Many governments, past and present, have pledged to tackle such misconduct. But it is clear that even with a regime change, nothing has changed and we still have a long, long way to go before good governance, transparency and meritocracy is embedded in the DNA of those who wield state power.
A recent investigation by the Isra News Agency revealed that many members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), including military officers, have put direct family members — wives and children — on the payroll. They serve as personal assistants (15,000 baht per month, personal experts (20,000 baht per month) and personal specialists (24,000 baht per month).
Some NLA members have hired the same person two or three times — once for each position, and drawing salaries for all. One NLA member hired his wife three times. This practice and behaviour by members of the NLA is not just a cause for concern. It is scandalous and downright disgusting.
What is equally worrying is the response of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who defended the legal right of NLA members to employ family members because it did not breach the interim charter. He also rejected comparisons between the NLA and previous parliaments saying that conditions are different. The response by Pondej Pinprateep, who chairs the National Reform Council’s committee on reform on ethics, morality and good governance, which just proposed a bill to set up a national ethics assembly, is equally disappointing.
He noted that the practice of nepotism by many members of the NLA members was not against the law but a mistake for not considering the suitability of the appointments. People appointed to such positions should be capable, he said.
Indeed, politicians have long been criticised for practising nepotism, and rightly so. We are all too familiar with how elected ministers appoint totally unqualified people to crucial positions on the boards of state enterprises and government agencies so as to protect their interests and to maximise benefits. But the prime minister’s comments — plus the argument that the practice of nepotism by politicians is far worse and more rampant — simply do not hold water. It does not matter whether the interim charter prohibits this practice or not. It is irrelevant whether there should be a law against this practice or not.
What matters is that those individuals who wield state power, whether they are elected representatives, senators — appointed or otherwise — government officials in any state agency must do what is right. They need to realise that nepotism, patronage and cronyism lead to corruption. They need to realise that the public sees through the legal arguments and the flippant responses to the practice by many members of the NLA show a severe lack of good governance and amount to pure hypocrisy.
This practice and behaviour by members of the NLA is not just a cause for concern. It is scandalous and downright disgusting.