Move to impeach noppadon to go ahead despite resignation

In a legal move to activate proceedings to remove Noppadon, opposition lawmakers filed the motion an hour before the embattled minister announced his resignation, effective next Monday.

The impeachment inquiry will proceed regardless of Noppadon's resignation, and is expected to subsequently form the basis for criminal proceedings.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said Noppadon's quitting would not deter the impeachment, which could affect Noppadon's political career in the future.

Opposition chief whip Sathit Wongnongtoey submitted the motion to the Senate Speaker, who is responsible for checking formalities before forwarding it to the National Counter Corruption Commission for an inquiry.

The motion has the support of 117 MPs, which is a quarter of the House seats at this time.

If the NCCC finds cause to suspect wrongdoing, the motion would be sent back for trial by the Senate.

If the case is deemed to have the criminality aspect, Noppadon could face a separate prosecution in the Supreme Court.

"Noppadon is the impeachment target because he pushed for and signed the Thai-Cambodian joint communique, which the Constitution Court ruled on July 8 was a contractual agreement requiring parliamentary approval," Sathit said.

Noppadon appeared to have intentionally bypassed Parliament as per Article 190 of the Constitution, hence he may have committed an unconstitutional act that is impeachable, he said.

He said Noppadon failed to consult Parliament and had acted suspiciously toward the Cambodian authorities as shown by his May 14 trip to Koh Kong and his talks at Unesco headquarters in Paris on May 22-23.

Many suspected a secret deal was hatched to list the temple as a World Heritage site in exchange for exploration concessions for natural gas in offshore areas claimed by the two countries, he said.

The Democrats will study the minutes of the June 17 Cabinet meeting before deciding whether to target additional Cabinet members for impeachment.

Another potential target was Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, Sathit said.