Updated: Punishment to plan

The Bangkok Post reports that the political stalwarts at the National Anti-Corruption Commission say that their so-called ethics probe “against 44 former MPs of the now-dissolved Move Forward Party (MFP) seeking to amend the lese majeste law is in its final stage.”

The NACC’s secretary-general “said the accused have been summoned to clarify and present their defence, and the inquiry is expected to conclude within months.” What this means is that all 44 have been given “15-30 days to clarify the allegations and present their arguments” against the ludicrous claim that proposing to amend a law is “an intentional ethical breach or a serious failure to comply with moral requirements…”.

In other words, the claim is that Article 112 is a law that no elected member of parliament is permitted to propose for amendment. This is strange parliamentary procedure but not at all unexpected in royalist Thailand, where that law is a main pillar of political conservatism-cum-feudalism.

When the NACC inquisitors complete their inquisition, “the findings will be forwarded to the full NACC committee for final consideration…”. Most pundits believe that the NACC will then forward the case to the Supreme Court for Holders of Political Positions.” When that court finds them guilty, those who are still MPs with the People’s Party will be disqualified and all will be banned from running in elections. That seems to be the plan.

Update: In an interesting juxtaposition of NACC cases, Thai PBS reports that the NACC “investigation into the alleged special treatment of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, at the Police General Hospital, is likely to drag on longer as the commission is waiting for more information from relevant agencies.”

The NACC says it “is trying to collect as much evidence as possible, but he cannot not predict how long it will take for the case to be wrapped up.”

Yet the NACC “is not sure whether it [evidence] is complete,” with the secretary-general “adding that he is not fully aware of what the evidence contains.”

He did “explain” that “Thaksin’s case is different from that involving 44 former MPs of the now defunct Move Forward Party, over their attempt to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, commonly referred to as the lèse majesté law.” The report does not say how the “investigation” of the case is “different.”