The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) has called an emergency meeting for Christmas Day to discuss the rice-pledging case against ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), anti-graft commissioner Vicha Mahakul said Monday.
Mr Vicha said he expected the agencies to reach a conclusion on whether to prosecute the former prime minister after the meeting, but added that the outcome is still unpredictable.
Vicha Mahakul of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has been pursuing the rice-purchase deal for two years and is smiling at the expectation of an agreement to indict and prosecute former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
The OAG could launch a prosecution against Ms Yingluck itself, he said.
"Our last joint meeting went well," Mr Vicha said.
The anti-graft body argues its investigation report, which found Ms Yingluck negligent of duty in overseeing the loss-ridden rice pledging scheme, is complete. Prosecutors, however, maintain it has holes.
"We remain confident, or we would not have sent our secretary-general Sansern Poljiak to head the NACC delegation to attend meetings with the prosecutors,'' Mr Vicha said.
Regarding the probe into former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom's rice-sale deals, the NACC expects its sub-committee to reach a conclusion on his culpability this week or the next, Mr Vicha said.
The sub-committee will present details it has gathered on government-to-government sales.
The NACC will further examine the elements of the case, including the amount of state-owned rice in stock, with Prime Minister's Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul.
Mr Vicha was speaking to the press following an address to NACC employees on the role of law and economics in the fight against corruption.
Thailand's main graft problem is corruption on a grand scale involving officials at the policy level in public procurement dealings with the business sector, he said.
If this high-level corruption is not tackled, other fraudulent behaviour will persist, he said.
Mr Vicha, who has just returned from a visit to China with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and other members of a new government anti-corruption panel, lauded the country's commitment to tackling graft.
The panel would not duplicate the NACC's work, he said.
"It is the premier's job to take fighting graft seriously and the panel will bring together the various parties involved,'' he said.
In September, Gen Prayut made fighting graft a national priority.
Mr Vicha said the battle against corruption in the country should be pursued with vigour.
Quoting former Chinese vice-premier Wang Qishan, he said: "Whether it be a tiger or a mosquito, we must hit them all."