No laws were broken with Torsak’s appointment, Srettha says

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin insisted on Thursday that he had not violated the Royal Thai Police Act when he picked Pol General Torsak Sukvimol as National Police chief last year.

Srettha was reacting to a complaint filed against him with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) by Torsak’s former deputy, Pol General Surachate Hakparn.

In the complaint filed on Wednesday, Surachate alleged that Srettha had committed malfeasance and violated Article 157 of the Criminal Code by failing to observe the Royal Thai Police (RTP) Act when he nominated the candidate for the top cop’s post last year.

Surachate alleged that the RTP Act requires the premier, who is ex-officio chair of the Police Commission, to consider a candidate for the police commissioner-general’s post based on seniority and performance in investigations.

However, he said, Srettha had last year selected the fourth seniormost candidate without explaining why the other three were ignored. He also alleged that Srettha ignored the requirement of considering the number of successful investigations conducted by candidates.

On Thursday, Srettha insisted that he had chosen the candidate for the top cop’s job without bias and with honest intentions.

He said Torsak had also done well with investigating cases and had received unanimous endorsement by members of the Police Commission. He also abstained from voting for Torsak because he had nominated him, he said.

“So, I’m ready to provide an explanation to NACC,” he said.
Srettha added that he was not yet certain whether he would assign his legal adviser Wissanu Krea-ngam to lead his defence team in the NACC case, because Wissanu has to prioritise the case with the Constitutional Court.

A group of senators had asked the court to remove Srettha from office for allegedly breaching ethical standards and the Constitution by appointing Pichit Chuenban as PM’s Office minister despite having a questionable background.