Prawit in hot water over House attendance

Asked recently by reporters why he hadn’t attended a parliamentary meeting to be scrutinised by the Move Forward Party, Gen Prawit Wongsuwan responded, "What does that have to do with you? Whether I go or not, is that wrong?" and "Why are they looking for me? If they want to see me, come see me. Come to my house."

The Palang Pracharath leader's frequent absence from Parliament has become a weakness. Back in March, Deputy House Speaker Padipat Santiphada posted a message reminding MPs that "an MP can miss no more than a quarter of parliamentary meetings. If they exceed this without permission from the Speaker, they will lose their seat."

Now, Phromphong Nopparit, a member of the Pheu Thai Party, has filed a complaint calling for a probe into Prawit’s ethics as an MP, stating that he has missed 13 out of 16 parliamentary votes and may have breached constitutional rules on attendance.

Article 101 of the Constitution states that "if an MP is absent for more than a quarter of parliamentary days during a session lasting no less than 120 days without permission from the Speaker," their membership will end.

MPs are banned from using their official time for their own or others’ business interests, and must dedicate time to meetings, adhere to punctuality, and avoid missing meetings, except in cases of illness or force majeure.

However, in practice, no MP has used these rules to take action against another, as it would risk creating enemies.

Hence, MPs have previously been relaxed about adhering to these standards.

Apat Sukanan, secretary-general of the House of Representatives, explained on Tuesday that MPs can notify the House in advance of their absence or submit requests retroactively. Approval for absences is at the discretion of the House Speaker.

However, House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha has shown reluctance to handle such sensitive matters. He recently indicated that the ethics complaint would be forwarded to the Ethics Committee.

Previously, the Legislative Ethics Committee had investigated a complaint against seven members of the post-2014 coup National Legislative Assembly (NLA) after evidence arose of excessive absenteeism. Some members attended as few as six out of a total of 400 sessions.

However, the committee ruled that the seven NLA members had not violated ethical standards as they had separate official duties that could not be delegated.

But the outcome of Gen Prawit's case may be different, as ethical standards have since been tightened.

Even if Prawit had submitted a request for leave, if it were later discovered that he had engaged in political activities or campaigning during the session time, this could potentially violate parliamentary ethical standards.

Also, most members of the ethics committee belong to the "anti-Prawit" faction.

Signals from the government's chief whip, Wissuth Chaiyarun of the Pheu Thai Party, suggest that the complaint could be part of a strategy to sideline Prawit.

"When I attend parliamentary meetings, I never see Gen Prawit, and I don't know if he has signed in for any sessions. If he hasn't, he shouldn't be an MP, a role paid for by taxpayers," he said.