Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow on Tuesday rejected allegations made during a heated parliamentary debate that he was unqualified to serve as a cabinet minister.
Anusorn Iamsa-ard, a Pheu Thai Party list-MP, made the allegations.
Mr Anusorn referred to multiple controversies surrounding Thamanat, particularly the infamous ‘flour case’ from 1993. At that time, Thamanat had claimed that a substance weighing 3.2kg seized by Australian authorities – allegedly heroin – was merely ‘flour’.
An Australian court in March 1994 sentenced Thamanat to six years in prison for heroin trafficking. He was released after four years and deported to Thailand.
Thamanat, also a deputy prime minister, said that the Constitutional Court had already ruled unanimously on such matters during his previous tenure as deputy agriculture minister in the Prayut Chan-o-cha government. The court found that he did not violate any disqualifying criteria as set out in Sections 160 (6) and (7) of the constitution.
In short, the court found that only a criminal conviction in Thailand can disqualify a person from serving as an MP or minister.
As well, Thamanat said, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) cleared him of a complaint of gross ethical misconduct. He said all the relevant documentation had been thoroughly reviewed through proper legal channels.
‘I would like to remind the debating MP that I have been through both good times and difficult times in life. I have always accepted scrutiny and have passed every stage of the judicial process,’ he said.
‘Please stop dredging up old matters to make them political issues again. If there are still doubts, we can discuss them privately.
‘Let me make this clear. Anyone who makes defamatory remarks against me – even under parliamentary privilege, and if those remarks cause reputational damage outside parliament – they will face consequences. Our next meeting place will be in the Phayao [police station].’