PUBLISHED: 19 Jul 2024 at 04: 00
Mongkolkit Suksintharanon, the former leader of the Thai Civilized Party, was charged by the National Anti-Corruption Commission ( NAC ) with an ethics violation for skipping a parliament meeting to accompany a group of technical college students to a movie in 2021.
In a new decision, the NACC ruled that Mr. Mongkolkit should be accused of severely violating Section 234 of the Constitution’s moral standards in the event.
On Dec 15, 2021, Mr Mongkolkit, who was also an MP at the time, reportedly took a group of college students to watch the film 4Kings rather of attending a conference in parliament.
The NACC deemed Mr Mongkolkit’s presence from the legislature meeting superfluous and careless.
According to the NACC, Mr. Mongkolkit’s social media posts about his absence from the conference negatively impacted the reputation of the House of Representatives and went against Articles 27 and 29 of the Laws on the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament Get 2563.
Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a political advocate, lodged a complaint to the NACC about Mr. Mongkolkit’s behavior.
Responding to the NACC’s walk, Mr Mongkolkit said the company had not sent him a reminder about their claim. He questioned the legality of the NACC’s approach to the case.
He claimed to have requested a leave of absence from parliament ahead of the scheduled 2 p.m. conference. The film was screened at 5.40pm, after the legislature meet ended at 4.30pm, he said.
He noted that whatever he did was in accordance with the rules.
If the NACC is found to possess skipped any essential steps in the proceedings, he said he would combat the situation and ask the Administrative Court to cut the cost.