Opposition moves to impeach Jakrapob

Opposition chief whip Sathit Wongnongtoey said yesterday that Jakrapob will be accused of violating the Constitution by interfering with the media such as MCOT and the state-run NBT channel.

Sathit, also a Democrat Party executive, said the impeachment case would be filed with the Senate speaker tomorrow.

The opposition would cite Articles 270 and 271 of the charter, which allow a minimum of one-fourth of the House members to lodge their complaint to impeach public-office holders for malfeasance or abuse of authority.

Jakrapob, who oversees state media, said yesterday he was not concerned about the opposition move.

"We both have duties under the parliamentary system," he said, adding he was ready to explain himself and would provide the necessary information to a committee to be set up to investigate the allegations against him.

In a related development, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said he would file a complaint with Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej over Jakrapob's recent controversial speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.

Abhisit said Jakrapob's speech involved a "sensitive issue" about high authority even though he had denied that and said the controversy was caused by mistranslation.

Abhisit said Samak had always said he was absolutely loyal to the monarchy so he should act to prevent any misunderstanding in society.

"I'd like the prime minister to be informed about this matter so that he can determine if a person with such an attitude deserves his trust," said Abhisit, who is also the Democrat Party leader.