Yingluck Shinawatra faces another session in the hot seat next week after failing to show up in person on Friday to answer legislators' questions about her government's failed rice-pledging programme.
A National Legislative Assembly member reads questions about former premier Yingluck Shinawatra's rice-pledging scheme to her representatives: former deputy premier Kittiratt Na-Ranong, left, and her lawyer Norawit Lalaeng. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)
The former prime minister sent others to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to represent her, including former deputy premier Kittiratt Na Ranong. But NLA members refused to let them answer the questions that had been prepared.
The NLA has demanded to hear the answers directly from Ms Yingluck, but time is running out as a vote on whether to impeach her is scheduled for next Friday.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has recommended that Ms Yingluck be retroactively removed from the premiership and have her political rights suspended as she failed to stop the rice scheme, despite being warned that it would end with huge losses to taxpayers.
On Friday Ms Yingluck sent nine representatives including former ministers and lawyers to answer the questions on her behalf but the NLA members who posed the questions refused to let the representatives answer.
Pichit Chuenban, a lawyer for Ms Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party, complained about the NLA's decision not to allow the former premier's representatives to answer the prepared questions.
NLA vice president Surachai Liangboonlertchai then told the representatives to ask Ms Yingluck to show up by 6pm to supply answers. Her representatives replied that they could not contact Ms Yingluck and did not know where she was.
NLA members then read out the questions they wanted to pose to Ms Yingluck. They dealt with her responsibility for the damage that her rice scheme caused, including a huge loss and extensive corruption that she failed to bring to an end.
The Finance Ministry earlier concluded that the rice scheme caused a loss of at least 500 billion baht.
A question from NLA member Kitti Wasinont sought Ms Yingluck's answer on why she did not stop the rice scheme although many organisations informed her that the scheme was losing billions of baht and was plagued with corruption. In addition, no government-to-government rice trades took place as ministers had claimed, and some traders acquired pledged rice at low prices and made windfall profits from resales.
Among those delivering the warnings were the NACC, the Office of the Auditor General and the Thailand Development Research Institute.
NLA member Thaweesak Sootkawatin asked if the rice scheme was merely a tactic of Pheu Thai to win an election as the Yingluck government actually bought rice at prices nearly 50% above market prices.
NLA member ACM Chalee Janruang asked whether Ms Yingluck would repeat such a programme that seemingly consumed huge sums from the government's coffers if she had a chance to return to government.
NLA member Mahannop Detpitak asked how Ms Yingluck as the prime minister would take responsibility for the losses resulting from the scheme.
NLA member Somchai Sawaengkan asked how Ms Yingluck planned to compensate the families of 16 rice growers who had committed suicide while waiting for her government to pay for their pledged rice.
NLA member Dr Jet Siratharanont commented that Ms Yingluck did not show up on Friday because she wanted to postpone her answers to the date of her closing statement next Thursday.
This way, he said, Ms Yingluck would have an advantage because she would know the questions in advance and would have more time to prepare her replies.