The Constitutional Court has cleared former cabinet ministers Phumtham Wechayachai and Tawee Sodsong of ethical breaches in connection with an investigation into alleged irregularities in the 2024 Senate election.
The court delivered its ruling on Wednesday on a complaint filed by a group of senators who had accused the two men of abusing their authority by pushing for the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to look into aspects of the vote-rigging and collusion case.
The petitioners argued that the move amounted to interference with the mandate of the Election Commission and was intended to intimidate or pressure senators, in violation of the separation of powers and ethical standards.
The senators also asked the court to decide whether the two ministers’ actions met the criteria for termination of their ministerial status. Mr Phumtham was deputy prime minister and defence minister, and Pol Col Tawee was justice minister when the complaint was filed last year.
According to the court, there was no evidence that either Mr Phumtham or Pol Col Tawee had acted dishonestly or lacked “apparent integrity”, as defined under Section 160(4) of the constitution.
It also found no grounds to conclude that the pair had committed a serious ethical breach or carried out prohibited acts under Section 160(5).
In its reasoning, the court found the DSI’s involvement stemmed from complaints by members of the public seeking fairness in the Senate selection process, and that the matter was initially not treated as a special case.
It later became a special case after the Election Commission indicated that a criminal investigation into certain aspects of the case — including alleged money laundering — would be outside its authority.
The court noted that there was no evidence that either of the former ministers interfered to force the DSI to take up the case, or ordered the issue to be placed on the agenda of the special case committee.
As a result, the court ruled there was no basis to terminate their ministerial status under Section 170. The issue became moot as the two men gave up their cabinet positions when the Pheu Thai-led coalition was ousted last September and a new Bhumjaithai-led administration took office.
The final vote in the three-stage Senate election on June 26, 2024 produced highly unusual results, notably a disproportionate number of winners from provinces where Bhumjaithai is strong electorally.
Those accused of collusion include 138 current senators out of 200, as well as 91 other people affiliated with Bhumjaithai, such as executive members and those tied to associated groups.
The DSI and the Election Commission are continuing with their investigations, with hundreds of people having been called in for questioning.
However, since Bhumjaithai assumed control of the government in September last year, there has been little news of progress.
