PUBLISHED : 2 Sep 2024 at 18:29
A motion in the Senate seeking to have a Constitutional Court judge probed for his remarks about the dissolution of the Move Forward Party was dropped on Monday.
The motion was raised earlier by Senator Nanthana Nanthawarophas over the remark made at a seminar last week by Constitutional Court Judge Udom Sittiwirattham about the now-defunct Move Forward Party (MFP) and its new incarnation, the People’s Party (PP).
At one point in the forum, the judge said half-jokingly that the MFP’s dissolution might not be all bad news, given the latest fundraising by its successor, the PP, which managed to raise millions of baht in a couple of days.
Sen Nanthana said the judge had mocked the dissolved party and behaved improperly, for which he should be probed for an ethical violation.
The senator called on the Senate to accept the urgent motion and request the Constitutional Court investigate its own judge.
The motion was debated widely at Monday’s Senate meeting. The majority of members maintained that it was not urgent and that Sen Nanthana should seek a probe against the judge with a relevant independent agency, such as the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Upper House members agreeing with Sen Nanthana insisted the motion should be adopted.
The disagreement prompted a vote to be called. The motion was subsequently dropped in a vote of 117 to 37.