"Ice Cream" is advancing a strategy to encourage opposition colleagues to sign a petition for the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate the case of former Transport Minister Saksayam hiding stocks. He points out there are two channels for submitting signatures: through MPs and Senators, and through the public sector. He urges the Speaker of the House to issue clear criteria on the discretionary powers applied when considering the petition.
On 28 Apr 2026 GMT+7 at the Parliament, Mr. Parit Watcharasindu, party-list MP of the People's Party and coordinator of the opposition parties (opposition whip), spoke about gathering parliamentary members' signatures to submit to the Speaker for forwarding to the Supreme Court to establish an investigative committee regarding the NACC's alleged misconduct in the case of Mr. Saksayam Chidchob, former Minister of Transport, hiding stocks. He said this issue has been publicly communicated, and he has shared the meeting agenda with other opposition parties. Following the NACC's dismissal of the complaint against Saksayam, the People's Party views the NACC's press conference as risking a whitewash since the facts clearly indicate stock concealment. Therefore, they must exercise constitutional rights under Article 236 to collect signatures requesting the Speaker to forward the matter to the Supreme Court to form an investigative committee on the NACC members’ alleged misconduct.
Mr. Parit added that the People's Party legal team has begun the petition process. There are two channels for collecting signatures: through parliamentary members, requiring 140 votes. The People's Party already has 119 MPs, so they will seek additional signatures through two ways: from opposition coalition parties, which will be discussed in today's coalition meeting, and it is expected that enough other opposition parties will join to reach 140 signatures. Another channel is Senators willing to sign; initially, over 10 Senators have expressed interest. The third channel is the public, needing 20,000 signatures. He invited citizens who believe the NACC's resolution constitutes misconduct to also participate by submitting signatures through this route.
Mr. Parit expressed his belief that if both signature channels proceed simultaneously, it will alleviate concerns some have about the Speaker exercising discretion to dismiss the complaint before forwarding it to the Supreme Court, as happened previously when former Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Mata did so before the 120-day pre-dissolution period regarding an NACC member case. He expects to see other parties' stances today since he has coordinated with some already, and he understands some parties may listen to his explanations or consultations today before taking the information to their party meetings this afternoon.
When asked if the more difficult issue is whether the Speaker will submit the matter to the Supreme Court and if there will be informal talks beforehand, Mr. Parit said this should not depend on informal discussions. According to the constitution, MPs cannot send matters directly to the Supreme Court; it must go through the Speaker, who has discretionary power to decide whether to forward it. Previously, Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor dismissed an NACC member complaint involving a watch case related to former Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan. He exercised discretion to dismiss without explanation before the dissolution of Parliament. Another concern regarding discretion is the timeframe since Wan Muhamad Noor took about 10 months to consider before ultimately dismissing the case.
Mr. Parit urged Mr. Sophon Saram, Speaker of the House, to clarify the criteria for considering petitions under both systems, such as whether decisions will be based on which political party the case involves or specifying a clear timeframe for consideration, whether in days or months. This would help reduce public concern. Meanwhile, they are working in parallel to amend Article 236 of the constitution to remove the Speaker's discretionary power so that petitions forwarded to the Speaker become only a procedural step without authority to dismiss complaints, allowing cases to proceed to the Supreme Court. This matter also depends on Mr. Sophon, as the draft amendment was submitted back in March.
Mr. Parit said they are ready to consider the draft as soon as the Speaker places it on the meeting agenda and schedules a joint parliamentary session. Once the first reading passes, he believes the remaining three readings will proceed quickly. Therefore, he posed two questions to the Speaker: 1. What criteria will be used to consider complaints against NACC members under Article 236 to assure the public that decisions will be principled and reasonable without bias towards any political party involved? 2. When will the joint parliamentary session be convened to consider the constitutional amendment draft and other agenda items that are ready for consideration?
Mr. Parit concluded by saying that today he will discuss with the opposition whip about confirming pending bills from the previous Parliament and Cabinet, which must be confirmed before 12 May according to the timeline. These include the Clean Air Act, PRTR Act, Labor Protection Act, and others, which have not yet received clear government responses. Once the opposition leader is formally appointed and the opposition whip established, representatives from the government will be invited to clarify these issues before the legal deadline.