Barkar Nash (Page 1,021)

Fate may hang on iTV’s legal status

Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat is not out of the woods yet, despite having transferred the controversial shares he held in iTV to his relatives.

Mr Pita, who is being investigated over 42,000 shares he held in the company, said on Tuesday he had transferred them to ensure he could be the next prime minister amid attempts to block him from entering the government.

Jade Donavanik, a legal expert and former adviser to charter drafters, said Mr Pita’s fate hinges on the question of whether iTV, an independent broadcaster founded in the 1990s, is still considered a media firm.

Under the current constitution, an election candidate is barred from running for office if they own shares in a media company.

Mr Jade said the transfer is unlikely to make any difference because Mr Pita is the statutory heir, and he did not make the change until after the May 14 general election.

However, the status of iTV is not clear as its status is being considered in the Supreme Administrative Court.

Mr Jade said the share-holding rule has been in place for several years, and election candidates are fully aware of share ownership following the case of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the now-dissolved Future Forward Party (FFP), a precursor to the MFP.

Mr Thanathorn was stripped of his MP status as he was found to hold 675,000 shares in V-Luck Media Co when the FFP submitted the names of its party-list MP candidates to the Election Commission (EC).

Pattana Ruanjaidee, a law lecturer at Ramkhamhaeng University, said he did not think the media shares would affect Mr Pita’s political career.

He said the MFP leader did not see himself as the shareholder but rather as the manager of his late father’s estate, and also, he did not consider iTV to be a media firm. However, his complainant viewed the matter differently.

He said he agreed with Mr Pita that iTV is not actively engaged in media operations, and he does not believe Mr Pita can exert influence over the company, which would be a major bone of intention.

“I don’t think this issue will cause any problem. It’s the Senate that doesn’t make decisions based on legal facts, as it’s dominated by coup-makers,” he said.

Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former member of the EC and chief strategist of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, wrote on Facebook that Mr Pita’s former ownership of the shares is unlikely to make him ineligible to seek nomination as prime minister because parliament has not yet started the selection process. However, his critics may argue the rule should be applied from the day Mr Pita was proposed as the MFP’s prime ministerial candidate.

“Selling the shares after the election is unlikely to benefit his case. And selling them looks like an admission of guilt,” he wrote.

Mr Somchai said the powers that be are doing all they can to resist change.

Mr Pita posted on Facebook that attempts were being made to revive iTV as a mass media organisation in a bid to attack him.

He wrote that in its 2018-2019 financial statement, iTV was defined as a holding company, but in two following financial statements, it was labelled a TV organisation.

At the iTV shareholders’ meeting on April 26 this year, one shareholder asked if it was a media organisation. “Was the question politically motivated?” Mr Pita wrote on Facebook.

His family concluded he should transfer the shares in case there are “attempts to revive iTV as a media organisation”, Mr Pita wrote, adding he had held them since March 16, 2007, as manager of his late father’s estate.

He expressed confidence that nothing would disqualify him from serving as a lawmaker or becoming prime minister.

Anti-graft body should hold Prayut and ministers accountable after charter court ruling, say rights groups

Civil society groups have asked the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his cabinet over the postponement of the anti-torture law.

Led by the Institute for Justice Reform (IJR) and a support group for relatives of the Black May 1992 victims, they said Gen Prayut and the cabinet should be held accountable for damage caused by the delayed enforcement following the Constitutional Court ruling.

The groups said the Prayut government deliberately violated the charter when it issued an executive decree postponing enforcement of Sections 22–25 of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act.

The anti-graft agency should launch an investigation against Gen Prayut and the cabinet under Section 235 of the charter and submit its findings to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions, according to the groups.

The complaint came after the Constitutional Court ruled last month that the executive decree postponing enforcement of the four sections was a breach of Section 172 of the charter. With the court ruling, the anti-torture law came into force in its entirety on Feb 22 this year.

Pol Col Wirut Sirisawasdibut, secretary-general of the IJR, said that the postponement of the essential law undermined enforcement and Gen Prayut and the cabinet should be held responsible.

The cabinet this month created a special panel to lay down regulations and ensure compliance across all stete agencies.

Prolific petitioner Srisuwan Janya has also asked the NACC to begin an inquiry against the cabinet and former justice minister Somsak Thepsutin over the decree.

Mr Srisuwan said Mr Somsak proposed the postponement of the law to the cabinet, which subsequently issued the controversial decree before it was ruled unconstitutional.

He said the cabinet’s action was deemed a serious breach of ethics, and the NACC was obliged to carry out an investigation and uphold ethics standards for political office holders.

Gen Prayut, however, played down the prospect of the investigation, saying the decree was issued out of necessity and the cabinet had consulted Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.

Mr Wissanu has explained that because the government that issued the decree ended with the dissolution of the House in March, it was not legally compelled to resign. A charter breach committed while a government was still in office would result in the cabinet stepping down.

The anti-torture law was published in the Royal Gazette on Oct 25 last year and set to take effect on Feb 22 this year.

However, the cabinet approved an executive decree postponing enforcement of Sections 22-25 to Oct 1, citing a lack of budget to buy equipment, especially police body cameras, and a shortage of skills as reasons for the delay. It caused an uproar, prompting a group of MPs to seek the Constitutional Court ruling.

More stations and firefighters needed but wage ceiling in budget a big issue

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has admitted budget constraints are keeping the city’s fire stations from expanding and standing in the way of recruiting more firefighters.

The issue came to light following complaints from firefighters that they have been working long hours without overtime.

On Tuesday, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said he has assigned his deputy, Thawida Kamolvej, to look into the issue.

He said he understood that the issue arose from firefighters being subject to long shifts. Regulations stipulate that they may work up to three straight shifts of eight hours each before taking one shift off.

However, the opening of more fire stations is putting a strain on manpower since no new firefighters are being hired due to a lack of budget funds, according to Mr Chadchart.

The BMA workforce is managed by the BMA Civil Service Commission (CSC).

The governor said it is possible the CSC may be unaware of the need to increase employment of firefighters.

He conceded that there is a shortage of firefighters and that the BMA was trying to recruit more. From what he knew, on a number of occasions volunteers had needed to be brought in to assist the fire brigade.

Mr Chadchart added that the capital was lagging behind other major cities in terms of available fire stations. Although some new stations are being built, they are not keeping up with the fast expanding metropolis.

“We’re stuck with a legal ceiling where the cost of wages among those employed by the BMA cannot exceed 40% of its overall budget. And we’re nearly there,” he said.

“That’s why employment has to be handled carefully.”

Ms Thawida will figure out where the budget spending could be streamlined. In some areas of the workforce, technology will replace people and enhance working efficiency. In some positions, vacancies left by retired staff will not be filled.

Theerayut Phumsak, the BMA’s director of the Bureau of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said Bangkok currently runs 41 fire stations and 7-8 sub-stations employing a total of 2,200 staff.

He said the numbers of both stations and firefighters had fallen below standards, which may affect the city’s emergency response capability.

The director explained that firefighting teams should be able to reach a fire location within eight minutes of being dispatched from their station. In practice, this may be achievable in areas in inner Bangkok, but in outer zones such as Nong Chok, Min Buri and Lat Krabang, it might take longer.

This eight-minute maximum is even less achievable in rush-hour traffic, he said, adding that the bureau had advised the Bangkok governor that if the eight-minute goal was to be realised, at least 14 new stations must be added.

He said Mr Chadchart recognises the problem although he has run into budget hurdles.

Until the financial problem can be sorted out, the bureau has resorted to having the firefighters working longer workers without overtime.