Prompong seeks disqualification of Prawit as MP over low attendance
Ex-Pheu Thai spokesman says Palang Pracharat chief has missed 25% of House meetings
Former Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit on Wednesday asked the House of Representatives to investigate the attendance of Palang Pracharath Party leader General Prawit Wongsuwan and called for his disqualification as an MP for missing more than one-fourth of House meetings.
Prompong lodged his complaint with House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, asking for a probe into whether Prawit’s MP status should be terminated in line with Article 101 of the Constitution.
He said the article states that an MP must lose his parliamentary status if he or she has missed one-fourth of House meetings without permission from the House speaker.
He said the code of ethics of MPs states that MPs must devote their time to parliamentary meetings unless they are ill or face force majeure circumstances.
Prompong noted that since the current House took office after the general election last year, Prawit had already missed 13 out of 18 key votes in the House, especially two votes on the election of the prime minister.
Prompong said there was no political motive behind his complaint and he simply wanted to protect public interest. He would do the same if he had information about Pheu Thai MPs skipping House meetings, he added.
On reports that Palang Pracharath secretary-general Paibul Nititawan had filed a police complaint against him, Prompong said he was unperturbed.
Paibul alleged that Prompong had violated a coup order by utilising content gained from a tapped phone call to file a complaint against Prawit with the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Prompong denied he had eavesdropped on Prawit’s phone conversations.
He also challenged Prawit and Palang Pracharath to hold a formal press conference to deny or admit the genuineness of the leaked audio clips.
On September 11, Danai Ekmahasawat, the host of Channel 9’s “Inside Thailand” programme, played four audio clips with voices that sounded like Prawit. In one of the clips, the person who sounded like Prawit was heard saying he would like to become the prime minister.
Initially, Prawit and his aides said the clips were made by AI but on Wednesday Paibul cited one of the clips to file a complaint with police against Danai and Prompong for leaking and using eavesdropped phone conversations.
