Thailand's Caretaker PM files complaints against NACC

BANGKOK, April 8 (TNA) - Thailand's Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, through her lawyer, has filed complaints against the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in relation to its investigation into her alleged involvement in her administration's loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme. In her complaints, lodged on Tuesday, Yingluck repeated her request for the third time for the NACC to remove an anti-corruption commissioner Vicha Mahakhun from the investigation, as he is considered biased against her. Yingluck also complained against the NACC’s decision to reduce the number of her additional witnesses from 11 to 3, asking the anti-graft panel to accept her four more witnesses, namely Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister Police Major General Thawat Boonfuang, Caretaker Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, Deputy National Police Chief Police General Worapong Chiewpreecha and President of the Federation of Accounting Professions Pichai Chunhavajira. Besides, Yingluck also asked the Official Information Commission to order the NACC to reveal all information on its investigation into the rice-pledging scheme. Regarding the request for her additional witnesses, the caretaker prime minister said that she is a policymaker and she wants officials at the operational level to have a chance to testify, as they knew facts about the scheme. As one of the caretaker prime minister’s witnesses, Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan told journalists that he is scheduled to testify with the NACC on April 10, 2014 and he is confident that his information will answer all suspicions of the anti-graft panel, noting that he will tell the NACC that the caretaker prime minister had no authority to stop or terminate the rice-pledging scheme. Another witness of the caretaker prime minister, Caretaker Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Phuangrach told reporters that he is gathering information for his meeting with the NACC on April 9, 2014.(TNA)