Opposition targets NACC with court probe over Saksayam assets

The opposition will submit a petition next week to the president of the Supreme Court, through the House speaker, proposing an investigation into the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for alleged malfeasance in office for its decision to drop the asset concealment case against former transport minister Saksayam Chidchob.

In his Facebook post today, Parit Wacharasindhu, spokesman for the People’s party and the opposition chief whip, said the that last week the opposition whips invited a representative of the NACC for questioning about the anti-graft watchdog’s investigation into Saksayam’s shareholding in Buri Charoen Construction Limited Partnership.

He said that, after the clarification from the NACC representative, the opposition whips concurred that the NACC had not conducted an in-depth investigation, as required by the NACC Regulations, before decided to drop the case and clear the former transport minister of concealing his assets.

The NACC’s ruling has been criticised as being at variance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court in 2024, which found Saksayam unqualified to hold a ministerial post for holding shares in a private company, in violation of Article 187 of the Constitution.

The NACC has recently claimed that its decision is not contrary to the Constitutional Court’s ruling. It asserted that had not found any evidence suggesting that the former transport minister intended to conceal assets, noting that, in the past six declarations of assets, there was no mention of the Buri Charoen share ownership.