More woes for Thai govt as court accepts new graft case
Posted: 28 July 2008 2014 hrs

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BANGKOK - Thailand's Supreme Court dealt another blow to Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's struggling government Monday, accepting a fresh graft case which could force three more ministers out of office.

The court said it would consider a case accusing deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra and 46 others of violating the law when they legalised a lottery scheme, allegedly denying the government billions of baht in revenue.

Under the constitution, Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, Labour Minister Uraiwan Thienthong and a deputy transport minister, Anurak Jureemas, must be suspended from their posts because they are named in the lawsuit.

Surapong, Uraiwan and Anurak were members of Thaksin's government at the time of the alleged scandal in 2003.

"The court accepts the proposal according to the court regulations," judge Roongrote Ruenrerngwong told reporters, setting the next hearing for September 26.

Thaksin was overthrown in a coup in September 2006, but his allies in the People Power Party won elections last December, angering Thailand's old power elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy who had despised the populist premier.

Samak has already seen three top officials, including his foreign minister, forced out by court decisions since forming his government in February.

Royalist protesters have also been holding street rallies demanding Samak step down and the courts pursue cases against Thaksin, while a military border stand-off with Cambodia has added to the premier's woes.

Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said the government would discuss the Supreme Court decision at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

"We must consider if we appeal to the Constitution Court, and whether that would be beneficial or not," he told reporters.

Deputy Transport Minister Anurak said he would consult with the government's legal team before making any decision about his post, while Surapong said he intended to continue his ministerial duties.

"There is no legal regulation indicating that a minister must suspend his duty following the court accepting of the case," he said.

Analysts and local newspaper editorials have speculated that a string of legal defeats could force Samak into a major Cabinet reshuffle.

Former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama was forced to resign on July 10 after the Constitutional Court ruled that he and the Cabinet should have asked parliament's approval for a deal with Cambodia over a disputed border temple.

Days before, PPP deputy leader Yongyut Tiyapairat was banned from politics for five years after the Supreme Court upheld vote fraud charges, while Health Minister Chiya Sasomsub was removed from office by another top court, which found that he had illegally concealed his wife's assets.

Monday's case stems from a move by Thaksin's government to introduce a new lottery, saying it would eliminate illegal lottery operators.

But the way the new competition was managed and how its profits used proved controversial, especially when Thaksin proposed using lottery cash to fund his failed 2004 bid for British football team Liverpool.

The junta-installed anti-corruption body which forwarded the case to the court said the deal had caused nearly 37 billion baht (1.1 billion US dollars) in lost revenue for the government.

It is the second case against Thaksin to be accepted by the Supreme Court, which is already hearing charges that he arranged a sweetheart property deal for his wife.

- AFP/ir