BANGKOK, 8 May 2015 – The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has decided to impeach the former Commerce Minister and his associates on grounds of corrupt practices that led to the severe underperformance of the previous government-to-government (G2G) rice scheme.
The assembly voted 180 to 6, with 4 abstentions, to impeach former Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom.
Deputy Commerce Minister Phoom Saraphol was also impeached, with the votes of 182 to 5, 2 abstentions and 1 invalid ballot.
Finally, the NLA voted 158 to 25 to impeach former Director- General of the Foreign Trade Department Manas Soiploy. There were 6 abstentions and 1 invalid ballot.
The impeachment entails a 5-year ban from politics. The case of Mr Manas marks the first time a high-ranking bureaucrat has been impeached.
