Discussed: 20 Dec 2024 at 07: 45
The House of Representatives passed both its second and third observations of a bill that would allow political committees to discipline state officials who refuse to appear for political inquiries.
However, the most contentious area, which gives these committees the authority to even impose legal private companies on their summonses, was voted down and axed in the second reading before the remaining parts were approved in the third and final checking.
Numerous Pheu Thai Party MPs viewed this specific section as a flaw that could be easily exploited by an immoral committee member in exchange for a bribe from the affected parties.
” Many state officials have been extorted for money]by a parliamentary committee ] … It’s something of the past now for such an unethical committee to make money out of their authority”, said Cholnan Srikaew, a Pheu Thai Party MP for Nan.
Even though some different sections of this invoice initially faced strong opposition from MPs who argued that these sections were constitutional, they all ultimately passed.
According to Dr. Cholnan and a number of other Pheu Thai MPs, these parts appeared to be in violation of the constitution, and they may have resulted in the Constitutional Court receiving a complaint to view them.
For example, Section 13 mandates that the prime minister and cabinet officials accept responsibility for making sure that state officials under their watch do not provide documents or deliver statements to a commission.
The PM or other government officials are therefore required to appear in man during a committee examination in the event that state officials do not comply with committee instructions.
Pheu Thai MPs had doubted whether it would actually work because the bill didn’t mention any penalties for the PM or other government officials who didn’t show up in person.
In his ability as a member of the House committee vetting the bill, Rangsiman Rome, a record MP from the main opposition party, claimed that the PM and cabinet ministers could face dereliction of duty violations under different laws for failing to show.
The Senate will then be given the opportunity to consider the bill.