Outspoken Senator Nantana Nantavaropas is fighting for her political life after the controversy-tainted Upper House upheld a ruling of serious malfeasance against her.
The Senate ethics committee found Nantana guilty of a serious ethical breach for calling a colleague a “pork vendor” – a verdict endorsed by a Senate majority on October 28.
Many observers said the decision was political revenge for Nantana’s dogged pursuit of senators implicated in the electoral fraud scandal engulfing the Upper House.
Critics warned it also undermined the Senate’s credibility, accusing it of double standards for ignoring equally serious ethical breaches by other members.
The Senate will now pass Nantana’s case to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which can petition the Constitutional Court for a final ruling. If found guilty, she could be banned for life from politics – a fate she describes as a “political death sentence”.
Nantana, a former associate professor of political communication, insists the Senate censure was motivated by her repeated scrutiny of colleagues suspected of colluding in electoral fraud.
She claims the senators who voted against her acted under political orders.
“This disgraceful resolution clearly shows that this Senate has an owner who can issue orders and push things through at will,” she said.
‘Tyranny of the majority’
Calling the Senate’s decision “bullying by the majority”, Nantana has fought back by petitioning Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha to order an investigation into what she calls “misuse of authority” and “governance failure”.
In her petition, she claims the Senate’s majority is being controlled to “eradicate political rivals”, in a threat to Thailand’s parliamentary system, democracy, and the rule of law.
She said the dominant Senate group must be stopped from “employing excessive authority to unjustly oppress colleagues who disagree with them”, warning that failure to do so would lead to a “breakdown” of the legislative branch.
The Senate ethics panel found that Nantana “demeaned human dignity regarding occupations and disrespecting the personal rights and freedom” of Senator Daeng Kongma, a former pork vendor from Amnat Charoen province.
Nantana made the jibe in September last year while complaining that she had been unjustly denied a seat on the Senate’s political development committee.
She argued that her expertise in human rights and political communication had been overlooked in favour of a pork vendor. Though she mentioned no names, her comment was clearly aimed at Senator Daeng, who had secured a seat on the panel.
‘Act of revenge’
Supporters of Nantana include former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, who said the 130 senators may have voted against her over a personal vendetta rather than ethical concerns.
“Ethical standards originally imposed to regulate the political sector may have become a tool for political persecution,” said Somchai, now a political commentator.
“We must wait to see if the NACC or the Constitutional Court will deliver an unusual or unexpected verdict.”
He noted that the Senate had taken no action against several other senators accused of severe ethical violations ranging from sexual harassment to abuse of power.
Narinphong Jinapak, president of the Lawyers Association of Thailand, said Nantana’s reference to Daeng’s previous occupation did not appear to constitute a severe ethical breach under the relevant constitutional clauses.
He suggested that the 130 senators who voted against Nantana may themselves have committed a serious ethical violation by acting out of revenge.
Creating waves
Nantana is among senators at odds with a large faction of Upper House members implicated in alleged electoral fraud linked to the Bhumjaithai Party.
Since taking office in July last year, she has accused many colleagues of illegally collaborating with a political party to dominate the Upper House. She alleged block voting by politically affiliated senators to elect the Senate speaker, his two deputies, and heads of the 21 standing committees. She also urged senators implicated in the vote-rigging case not to fill vacancies in independent agencies.
Nantana was born on August 15, 1962, in Samut Prakan province, south of Bangkok. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s in political science, and a doctorate in political communications, all from Thammasat University.
She then played a pioneering role in establishing political communications as an academic field in Thailand, helping to found Krirk University’s College of Political Communication in 2005. She resigned as the college’s dean to contest last year’s Senate election.
The election saw more than 40,000 candidates vote among themselves at the district, provincial and national levels to arrive at 200 final winners. However, the voting was marred by allegations of fraud and manipulation.
In July this year, a joint investigation panel comprised of the Election Commission and the Department of Special Investigation recommended that 229 individuals – 138 sitting senators and 91 others, including Bhumjaithai Party executives – be charged with electoral fraud. However, the election commissioners remain undecided on whether to proceed with charges.
