Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has cried foul over the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s ruling, which faulted her, former PM Office Minister Niwatthamrong Thamrong Paisan and former secretary-general to the Prime Minister, Suranand Vejjajiva, for alleged malfeasance in office relating to the spending of 240 billion baht of tax payer’s money to promote the “Thailand 2020” project.
In her Facebook post today, Yingluck Shinawatra said she questions why the NACC appears so keen to go after her, with two cases being wrapped up, and rulings decided against her, in just one month, while being slow with cases against the current Government.
She said that she feels that the graft fighting body is being quite generous to the Government, raising questions among the public regarding the integrity of the NACC.
Clarifying the case, concerning the transfer of the former Secretary-General of the National Security Council, Mr. Thawil Pliensri, in which the NACC ruled against her for alleged abuse of power, Ms. Yingluck claimed that she did not persecute Mr. Thawil, by moving him out of the NSC, insisting that it is normal for the Government to appoint a trusted person to head the Council.
She questioned why the NACC has failed to investigate the conduct of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, whom she accused of transferring many officials since taking over from her.
She defended the use of 240 million baht, from the Central Fund, to promote the “Thailand 2020” project, aimed at educating and informing people about major infrastructure projects, such as the high-speed train, with funding from two trillion baht of public sector borrowing.
She maintained that the project was useful and that there was no corruption.
“These days, I have been spending my life abroad quietly, like an ordinary person. Yet I have been faulted in two criminal cases in less than a month, so that there will trials held in absentia. I cannot help thinking that the present situation continues the run of bad luck in my life, and intensifies a yearning for justice from the country that I love,” said the former Prime Minister.
