PUBLISHED : 10 Nov 2023 at 05:00
Phattarapong Leelaphat, a Move Forward Party (MFP) MP for Chiang Mai, yesterday denied an allegation made against him by former election campaign assistants that he had falsified documents to claim financial assistance from the party.
The allegation was made public by Tankhun Jittitsara of the Democrat Party on Wednesday.
Mr Phattarapong responded to the accusation via Facebook, saying it was groundless as most of the money spent on his election campaigning activities in the last general election was his own money.
He said the MFP only supplied him with election posters, other related equipment used in the campaign, and some donations.
Hence, he had no motive to falsely claim financial assistance from the party to compensate for the amount he had actually spent with his own money, according to Mr Phattarapong.
The possible motive behind this move against him could be because the former election campaign assistants still held grudges against him for not appointing them as MP assistants, he said.
One of those making the allegation was a former MP assistant he had just fired, he added.
Mr Phattarapong also pledged to fully cooperate with an investigation the Election Commission (EC) might possibly carry out, saying he would also welcome any other legal processes which might be conducted into the allegation.
Mr Tankhun said three MFP members had informed him about their submission of a petition with the EC’s office in Chiang Mai asking the poll regulator to investigate the alleged misconduct by an unnamed MFP MP.
These MFP members were campaign assistants of the MP in question, and they had already submitted evidence to the EC to prove their claim, said Mr Tankhun.