EC believes foreign minister may have violated constitution

Thailand's Election Commission (EC) has assessed that Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Poramutwinai violated the constitution by allowing his spouse to hold shares in a concessionary business and will be forwarding the matter to the Constitution Court.

Last week a majority of EC members voted in agreement that the foreign minister’s spouse’s stock holdings were forbidden by Article 264 Section 187 of the constitution, which bars ministers from holding shares or potentially benefiting from shares. Such holdings are supposed to be declared to the Chairman of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NACC) within 30 days from assuming office and are then to be transferred away. Due to Don’s spouse continuing to hold such shares, he may be compelled to relinquish his post in accordance with Section 170 of the constitution. The EC’s legal office is currently drafting a case for the Constitution Court to review.

The matter was brought to the EC’s attention on May 1, 2017 by former Senator Ruangkrai Likitwattana, who called for probes into the stock holdings of nine ministers following the official adoption of the 2017 constitution on April 6, 2017.

Information and Source
Reporter : Itiporn Lakarnchua
Rewriter : Itiporn Lakarnchua
National News Bureau & Public Relations

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