Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan intends to find a new legal means to help the National Anti-Corruption Commission better deal with its work overload as he gathers opinions on drafting the NACC bill.
Calling the bill the "heart of the constitution" in combating corruption, which has long plagued Thailand, Mr Meechai urged 280 participants at a hearing Wednesday to help the CDC come up with a bill that will equip the national graftbuster with more effective legal tools against dishonesty.
His intention to put the NACC's work on the fast track gained attention from the participants -- both NACC representatives and key politicians such as Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. Mr Meechai also raised the question of how to monitor and act against NACC officials if they are dishonest.
The current system which allows the nine-member NACC to set up sub-panels to help it investigate may not be the best way, especially when they need to deal with several thousand complaints, Mr Meechai said. As a result, in the new charter, now awaiting royal endorsement from His Majesty the King, the anti-corruption watchdog can assign officials to investigate and help speed up its investigations, instead of setting up panels which takes time.
Yet, Mr Meechai added, the bill needs to state procedures these officials' need to follow as well as appropriate time frames to encourage them to do their jobs faster.
Mr Abhisit agreed with reducing the NACC's work processes. However, he still wants sub-panels to investigate big cases.
The structure of each sub-panel which requires an NACC member to join it will ensure an investigation proceeds in a careful way, he said. If officials who are "outsiders" whose backgrounds are not known are allowed to look into corruption cases alone, it will be dangerous, Mr Abhisit added.
Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajakit, who has chaired the NACC since late 2015, said there have been 4,000 corruption cases lodged since he was appointed to the post, with a total of 15,000 cases in the NACC's hands.
Pol Gen Watcharapol also suggested setting up a corruption prevention fund to better deal with dishonest people.
At present, the damage caused by corruption stands at 300 billion baht, but the budget used to fight corruption is limited to three billion baht, he said.
Meanwhile, former NACC member Vicha Mahakhun, who is now on the CDC sub-committee drafting the NACC bill, raised the case of a group of 20 officials at the Interior Ministry who are reportedly under pressure to leave the ministry after being accused of betraying their agency by releasing information on graft.
The NACC bill is among organic laws of the constitution now being drafted by the CDC which has less than eight months to finish the task.
The government is also waiting for His Majesty the King to endorse the charter within the 90-day deadline after it was re-submitted to the King on Feb 18.
