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Sacked Election Commission official raises a storm over his dismissal Suthep might be the Democrats’ best chance of dealing with Sukhumbhand Much at stake as army awaits report on Rajabhakti corruption probe
Puchong kicks up a storm
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was taken aback this week when he was greeted by emotional scenes at an anti-corruption event. Recently dismissed Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong popped up and begged him for justice.
Mr Puchong tried to push his way through the crowd and a cordon of security guards to reach Gen Prayut.
Eyes welling up, he appealed to the prime minister for help after having his employment contract as EC secretary-general abruptly torn up. This was on Tuesday and came after he was adjudged to have failed a performance assessment.
The five election commissioners, led by Supachai Somcharoen, voted unanimously to terminate Mr Puchong’s contract, saying he had failed to satisfy the four main assessment criteria: implementing the EC’s annual working plans; putting into action the commission’s resolutions; satisfactorily managing the organisation in accordance with the principle of good governance; and overcoming administrative challenges to help the EC’s work.
A source in the EC said the commissioners had determined that Mr Puchong had not achieved a score above 60%, the lowest pass mark, in any of the criteria.
Mr Puchong had been with the EC since the commission’s inception 18 years ago. He climbed up its ranks before being appointed secretary-general, a post he held for three years.
He was named secretary-general after his mandatory retirement. This was made possible as the post is a contractual one, renewable every five years, although it can be terminated early subject to the EC’s discretion.
The EC source said Mr Puchong prided himself on being a founding official at the commission who knew every nook and cranny of the organisation.
However, since the current election commissioners took office two years ago, he has been seen as under-performing, having been unable to do his duties properly such as handling staff transfers and commission officials’ salaries.
Mr Puchong has refused to take his sacking lying down. He says the commissioners undermined the chain of command, claiming he had been sidelined in important administrative and clerical decisions by some of the commissioners’ advisers.
He also accused the advisers of bossing him around, while some commissioners had passed resolutions that were of self-interest, including awarding themselves overseas trips.
Some commissioners had made 15 overseas trips in the past year at the EC’s expense, even though they were not invited by the host countries, he said.
Mr Puchong said he intends to appeal his contract termination. If the commission does not reinstate him, he will seek recourse by petitioning the Administrative Court.
Some critics are questioning why Mr Puchong did not blow the whistle sooner about the overseas trips. They say many people might think that had Mr Puchong not been sacked, he might not have made the claims.
After Mr Puchong took the EC to task, election commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn fired back, insisting the former secretarygeneral had achieved nothing throughout his tenure and failed to adopt a pro-active working attitude. The performance appraisal was not a personal vendetta.
Mr Somchai said the EC has high expectations of its secretary-general on account of the heavy workload and the high salary. An EC secretary-general, he said, is paid a salary higher than even that of a commissioner.
Each commissioner is entitled to hire one adviser, three specialists, a secretary and two assistant secretaries. They are recruited for their qualifications and capabilities through a credible screening process, Mr Somchai added.
Who you gonna call?
The reported conflict between Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra and his Democrat Party has created an uncomfortable situation for the country’s oldest political grouping, prompting observers to suggest they need to find someone of stature and credibility to help patch things up.
That person would need to be wellrespected by Democrat members and have close ties with those embroiled in the dispute. Enter Suthep Thaugsuban.
Sources feel the Muan Mahachon Foundation chairman, a former Democrat secretarygeneral who led the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) during its divisive rallies against the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, is the right man.
Although Mr Suthep has severed ties with the party of which he was a member for a long time, he is regarded as a senior figure whom many Democrats still listen to. Yet at the onset of the PDRC street protests, which began in October 2013, Mr Suthep announced he had relinquished his Democrat membership and vowed to wash his hands of any engagement with the party.
Mr Suthep declared the reason he had turned his back on the party he had served for much of his political career was because he did not want anyone accusing him of using the mass anti-Yingluck protest to further his political aims.
With the mass protests long over, and his return to a layman’s life after a lengthy stint in the monkhood, Mr Suthep has kept well away from the Democrats. It is no surprise then he has not been mentioned in the conflict with the Bangkok governor, nor attempted to get involved in it.
Despite predictions by analysts that the conflict will not hurt public support for the Democrats in Bangkok, the stormy relationship is nevertheless regarded as counter-productive to City Hall’s efforts to serving the people, according to the sources.
Until now, Mr Suthep appears not to have been taking any notice of the problems, even though many feel he could be counted on to help.
But if he decides to step in and meddle in the issue, he stands to lose the trust of his supporters after announcing that he had achieved what he set out to do when he took the helm of the PDRC, which was to hang up his political jacket for good.
Upon taking up the leadership of the Muan Mahachon Foundation, he said he would concentrate exclusively on non-government work. His in difference to the Democrat-Sukhumbh and conflict is not helping the issue as it goes from bad to worse.
Democrat executives have unofficially agreed to expel MR Sukhumbhand once the National Council for Peace and Order allows political parties to hold meetings. They are finding it difficult to contain their frustration with MR Sukhumbhand’s refusal to work in line with party policies, a Democrat source said.
Expulsion from the party would not cost MR Sukhumbhand his job. He has more than a year left before he completes his term. By driving him out of the party now, though, the executives would ensure his future actions have nothing to do with them.
Over the years, the party has made a number of attempts to hold talks with MR Sukhumbhand about the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s performance, but the governor has never responded, the source said.
Little respite in park row
In the past two weeks, the controversy over Rajabhakti Park has spawned daily headlines and provided the military government with a headache that won’t fade away.
On Nov 30, five leading red-shirt members were detained by troops at a market in Samut Sakhon while they were on their way to visit the park in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin district.
Last Monday a force of soldiers and police intercepted a group of activists at a railway station in Ratchaburi’s Ban Pong district while they were on a train bound for the park, which was then abruptly closed to the public for “renovations”.
However, these futile journeys may well have been just a rehearsal for the real action involving red-shirt leaders Nattawut Saikuar and Jatuporn Prompan who went to meet Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya after an aborted trip of their own.
The pair were invited by Gen Paiboon to visit the ministry’s national anti-corruption centre to provide information about the park controversy after their planned visit was nipped in the bud.
The reactions from both sides after the two-hour meeting were surprisingly positive.
Gen Paiboon was quoted as saying: “I can tell you we will find the wrongdoers because people involved in the project have admitted to that. But as for who is responsible and at what stages, we will have to wait for the probe results.”
A Defence Ministry committee headed by deputy permanent secretary for defence Gen Chaicharn Changmongkol, which is looking into the controversy, is expected to announce the results of its investigation into alleged irregularities later this month.
The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG), which is part of the Justice Ministry’s centre for national anti-corruption, is also looking into the use of government central funds in the project.
It was the OAG that revealed the Rajabhakti Park construction was partly funded by the state to the tune of 63.57 million baht, a finding that added a new twist to the corruption investigation. The state money was said to have been spent levelling land at the construction site, while public donations were used to finance the construction of the park and its statues.
This was a surprise because from the beginning, the park project was widely believed to have been totally funded by public donations, and therefore state graft-fighting agencies would not be authorised to investigate it.
Gen Paiboon’s remark about the irregularities places question marks over transparency assurances given by Deputy Defence Minister Udomdej Sitabutr, who initiated the park project when he was army commander.
According to political observers, the justice minister’s remark is piling yet more pressure on Gen Udomdej, whose has been in the hot seat for weeks, to resign over the park controversy in a show of ministerial accountability. Some even believe that Gen Paiboon was given the green light by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to step up the pressure on the former army chief.
Gen Udomdej has refused to stand down and will consider his next move after the probe results are released.
If he does quit, he will be the first minister in this military-backed government to resign over a graft scandal.
The justice minister’s latest act has also aroused interest among some political observers who are convinced Gen Paiboon and Gen Udomdej are not on good terms.
Their possible friction dates back to the day last year when they were candidates for the army’s top job. It was around the time Gen Prayut was retiring as army chief in October. Gen Paiboon was assistant army chief while Gen Udomdej was deputy army chief.
After the post went to Gen Udomdej, Gen Paiboon was named deputy supreme commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.