Govt urged not to dilute anti-graft law for unis

The Coordinating Centre for Public Higher Education Staff (CHES) has expressed its disapproval of the regime’s reported move to invoke Section 44 to spare existing chairpersons and university council members from having to declare their assets and liabilities.

A new anti-corruption law requires senior officials holding ranks such as department deputy director-general, university rector and other equivalent officials to declare their assets and debts. It was scheduled to come into force on Dec 2 but the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) decided to defer it to Jan 31 amid criticism.

The legislation has been met with opposition by university councils, which called for a review of the regulation out of concern it could trigger a mass exodus of members loath to see the details of their assets and liabilities go public.

It was recently reported that Education Deputy Minister Udom Kachintorn had asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to invoke Section 44 to spare existing chairpersons and university council members from such a requirement.

According to the CHES’s recent statement, enforcement of the law only on newcomers to such posts would be unfair.

The CHES urged the anti-graft agency not to give a reprieve to any particular groups at the NACC’s meeting today. “Such a move would undermine confidence in a law that must be applied to everyone,” the group stated.

According to the CHES, such a reprieve would essentially grant privileges to certain figures as they would be spared from graft scrutiny.

Graft suppression in higher education institutes has yielded no effective results because of the patronage system long enshrined in Thai society, the organisation stated.

“University council members say that they have no authority to make any decisions on university management,” the CHES stated.

“However, reports of lawsuits inside universities arise frequently and it has been proven that the claims that university council members have no power are not true,” the CHES stated.

It also questioned whether it was appropriate for university council members to threaten to resign en masse.

“If the NACC agrees to spare them, questions must be raised as to whether the agency has any vested interests with these individuals,” the group stated.

Referring to the reports of the possible invocation of Section 44 to deal with the matter, Suchatvee Suwansawat, president of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT), said he was unaware of the issue.

However, he said his organisation stood firm in agreement with the NACC’s new anti-corruption law, but called on the public to sympathise with the concerns expressed by chairpersons and university council members who work in academic positions that have nothing to do with procurement.

“Several universities have already been impacted by the new legislation with many council members tendering their resignation,” he said.