Justice Minister reproached for avoiding House inquiry into senatorial rigging scandals

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

JUSTICE Minister Rutthapol Naowarat was today (July 2) lambasted for unjustifiably circumventing the People’s-led, sustained probe into 2024’s senatorial vote-buying, electoral rigging scandals allegedly involving Bhumjaithai leader/Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and de facto Bhumjaithai boss Newin Chidchob’s son/party secretary-general Chaichanok Chidchob, according to an opposition MP.

Rutthapol was reportedly quoted as saying that he decided to skip today’s floor interpellation between cabinet members and legislators in the House of Representatives to attend an official activity elsewhere but People’s MP Parit Wacharasindhu said he merely deemed it a “lame excuse” for the Bhumjaithai-attached justice minister to unjustifiably evade the opposition lawmakers’ in-depth inquiry into the electoral rigging rackets involving 229 suspects allegedly such as the likes of Anutin as Bhumjaithai leader and Chaichanok as secretary-general of the party, currently core of the coalition government surreptitiously steered by his father.

Out of the total 200 senators, as many as 138 were suspected among others of having been more or less involved in the disreputable voting shenanigans perpetrated throughout the unprecedented, complicated procedures of the senatorial election as well as premeditated and manipulated by those covertly associated with Newin’s ultra-conservative camp.

So far, the collective performance of those suspected senators has allegedly emerged as ostensibly supportive and compatible to the Bhumjaithai’s legislative stands on varied issues at parliament with Senate Speaker Mongkol Surasajja being personally accused as a covert protege of the de facto party boss.

The Department of Special Investigation, a government agency attached to the Ministry of Justice, had joined the Election Commission to conduct investigation into the senatorial vote-buying, electoral rigging scandals but little progress has been made so far on the part of the polling agency where a couple of investigative subcommittees had ultimately handed out contradictory conclusions as one had found a number of persons guilty of involvement in the rigging charges whilst the other had suggested the commissioners waive them all up.

In another development, House Committee on Law, Justice & Human Rights Chair/People’s MP Rangsiman Rome today (July 2) took to task the authorities, namely the Ministry of Digital Economy & Society, the Central Investigation Bureau and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, for failing to bring a suspected online gambling operator who had allegedly offered to pay Chaichanok, who currently acts as digital economy & society minister, a sum of 40 million baht in monthly kickback cash since the last several months.

Chaichanok had earlier admitted that he had been quietly offered the exact amount of 40 million baht in monthly payoff in exchange for turning blind eye and deaf ear to illegal online gambling activities run by the mysterious suspect who was merely identified as Mr. Q.

Rangsiman remarked that those agencies had been dutifully obliged to produce a subpoena or even an arrest warrant for Mr. Q. to be questioned over his illicit businesses specifically in regard to the digital economy minister but nothing has been done about the suspect against whom money-laundering and gambling charges could have been formally pressed.

During today’s testimony before Rangsiman’s House panel, representatives of the Ministry of Digital Economy & Society were quoted as saying that they had had no idea who Mr. Q. could possibly be.

CAPTIONS:

Justice Minister Rutthapol Naowarat. Above photo – Amarin TV, Front Page photo – PPTVHD36

First insert – People’s MP Parit Wacharasindhu giving a speech at the parliament. Photo – Amarin TV

Second insert – Digital Economy & Society Minister Chaichanok Chidchob. Photo – Naewna

Also read:

Boy in deadly accident killing several monks is a special needs child

Pawoot found to have used payment service of illegally operating firm

Pawoot not calling it quits as People’s MP over suspected forex scam

Türkiye offers to build frigate for Thailand

Ekniti embellishes govt’s economic projects with invisible ‘plus’

Bangkok city council election results show ‘Big House’ politics continue to hold sway: Somchai

Chadchart scores big victory to return as Bangkok governor