The Constitutional Court decided yesterday that the Palang Pracharath Party deputy chief can hold his place as MP. Paiboon Nititawan was beneath investigation for a variety of alleged political and monetary indiscretions, and probably faced dropping his job, while having to pay back tens of millions of baht to the government. But the courtroom has dominated that he acted legally and will not be penalised in any means.
After the March 2019 election, Paiboon dissolved his own political party, the People Reform Party, after which 3 days later jumped ship to be an MP with the ruling Palang Pracharath Party. There is a constitutional mandate that an MP can not transfer from one celebration to a different with out first giving up their very own seat, and then being reelected. It was pointed out that Paiboon was not on the official list of Palang Pracharath Party candidates that was required to be submitted to the Election Commission earlier than the 2019 election.
Additionally, there have been questions about shady financial dealings by Paiboon. The Political Party Act makes clear that the leader should full a full financial audit after their get together has been dissolved. Paiboon dissolved his People Reform Party over 2 years in the past, but still the Office of the Auditor General has not completed its review of the party’s funds.
Last November, around 60 MP’s petitioned to have the Constitutional Court look into Paiboon’s case. If it was discovered that he had acted illegally, the MP would lose his job and still have to return all cost and advantages that he had obtained from the state, which would have amounted to around 10 million baht. But Verify in the end ruled by majority vote that Paiboon had accomplished the de-registration means of his celebration legally, and therefore would be able to maintain his place as MP.
Paiboon is a major political figure in Thailand, and a staunch defender of the junta-backed structure. This court docket ruling is an enormous victory for the ruling Palang Pracharath Party..