Nipon denies power abuse allegations

The deputy leader of the Democrat Party, Nipon Boonyamanee, has dismissed allegations made by activist Srisuwan Janya that he abused his position as head of Songkhla’s provincial administrative organisation (PAO), which if proven, makes him ineligible to sit as a cabinet minister in the next government.

He dismissed the claim after Mr Srisuwan, Secretary-general of the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution, filed a petition at the government’s complaint centre calling on Prime Minister Chan-o-cha to exclude Mr Nipon — who was nominated by the Democrat Party as the next social development and human security minister — from his cabinet line-up.

Mr Srisuwan claimed Mr Nipon abused his power during several projects while serving as head of Songkhla’s PAO, and as a result was not suited to take up a ministerial post.

“Some cases are now being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said.

Mr Srisuwan said that Mr Nipon allegedly refused to pay a private company which won the bid to procure two road maintenance trucks, with a combined worth of about 52 million baht — prompting the company to take the case to Songkhla’s Administrative Court.

However, Mr Nipon vehemently denied the allegation and said that because he received a complaint about alleged price-fixing in the bidding process, a decision to defer the payments was made and a panel was set up to investigate the matter.

Mr Srisuwan also claimed that Mr Nipon was involved in several other illegal schemes, which saw Songkhla’s budget misappropriated to support its provincial sports association, and to purchase ambulances at markedup prices.

Mr Nipon insisted that he acted in the best interests of the general public, and nothing was amiss about his decisions as Songkhla’s PAO chief.