"Maew" petitions the Ombudsman to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court to investigate Anutin's ethics regarding the transfer of provincial governors nationwide. Subheadline

Today (4 March) 10:45 AM at the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT), Ms. Kusumalawatee Sirikomut, a candidate for Member of Parliament from the Thai Progressive Party, or "Jae Maew," filed a petition with the Ombudsman requesting an investigationinto Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, in his capacity as acting Prime Minister and acting Minister of Interior, for issuing orders to transfer 55 provincial governors and provincial permanent secretaries and appointing district officers as election directors in all 400 constituencies. She also alleges that his permission for the Territorial Defense Volunteer Printing Press to print election ballots constitutes a serious breach of ethical standards under Articles 160 (4) and (5) of the Constitution and requests that the matter bereferred to the Constitutional Court for a ruling on the termination of his ministerial position.

Ms. Kusumalawatee further stated that she had previously consulted with several legal parties, including filing a complaint with ECT regarding Mr. Anutin's orders to transfer provincial governors while serving as acting prime minister and minister of interior. She also mentioned his attempt to transfer the governor of Buriram Province to become director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration, alleging this constituted preparation for election fraud and a violation of the Constitution. However, she was told by various agencies that they could not prosecute him. The only option was to file a complaint regarding his ethics, as the transfer of high-ranking officials was not reported to the ECT. Therefore, she brought the matter to the Ombudsman, as senior officials at the Ombudsman's office had stated it would be a pillar of support for the country. She also requested the Ombudsman to investigate the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for its slow response in investigating her complaints against Mr. Anutin regarding the illegal runway and Khao Kradong cases.

"I saw from the Senate election that they wanted to seize control of all three branches of power for governing the country: legislative, judicial, and executive. Therefore, wherever I filed my complaints, they were ignored. For example, the printing press issue and the Territorial Defense Volunteers case: the ballot printing process involved printing a large number of ballots. It's evidentthat there were numerous errors in vote counting, resulting in many discrepancies. This leads me to believe that, in addition to collusion among senators, this is election fraud across the country. When I tried to report it, I was told that nothing could be done because any wrongdoing would be unethical. Therefore, I had to appeal to the Ombudsman because senior officials there said they were ready to be a pillar of support for the nation," said Ms. Kusumalawatee.

Photo : Weeraphat Ratsameerueangrong