The Senate yesterday set up a committee to probe the background, conduct and ethics of the 15 nominees to be selected as new members of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
The nominees, who must assume their duties within 60 days pending Senate approval, are Pol Col Kob Ajanakitti, Kiattichai Maitriwong, Noraset Pratchayakon, Nirat Yuphakdi, Niwet Phancharoenworakul, Prapas Pintoptaeng, Prayat Jatupornphithakkul, Soot Rattanawong, Phaibul Nabutchom, Wirat Rakphan, Wiwat Rungkaeo, Wirayut Sroithong, Wutthichai Kalayanamit, Gen Sawas Thatsana, and Anek Wiraphotchananan. The NACC consists of nine members, including one chairman, each serving a seven-year term.
During yesterday’s Senate session, Senator Tewarit Maneechai proposed extending the deadline for considering the nominations by 30 days, to 90 days.
He said the extension was necessary because a petition signed by 105 Senators had just been submitted to the NACC, accusing former justice minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong and Pol Maj Yutthana Praedam, director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, of unfair treatment toward 138 Senators allegedly involved in the Senate election collusion case.
If a probe was to proceed now, he said, it could raise concerns about conflicts of interest.
The Senate committee is also being accused of partiality by Senator Nantana Nantavaropas, leader of a Senate minority group calling itself “independent”.
Ms Nantana reiterated her group’s opposition to the Senate’s involvement in reviewing and approving appointments to key positions in independent bodies, especially amid allegations that many senators were implicated in vote-rigging during the 2024 Senate election.
She added that since the majority dominate the Upper House, membership in such scrutiny committees has always been limited to their allies, leaving no opportunity for members of her group to participate.
Senator Seranee Anilbol, a member of the independent Senate group, said the 21 Senators who filed a petition concerning the qualifications of the 138 Senators allegedly involved in vote rigging, are now being sidelined in the Upper House, and given a seat in any committee.