US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK6240

UNCLAS BANGKOK 006240 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INFO ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS 
HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, TH 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON AUDITOR-GENERAL CONTROVERSY 
 
REF: BANGKOK 5917 
 
1.    (SBU) SUMMARY. The embattled Senate President announced 
on Friday, September 23rd that the nominee for the position 
of Auditor-General, Mr. Wisut Montriwat, had withdrawn his 
nomination for the position.  The King, who stood silent 
rather than endorse the nomination, accepted the withdrawal. 
This breaks the stalemate that has existed between a small 
group of Senators perceived as loyal to the Thai Rak Thai 
(TRT) and supporters of the current Auditor-General, Khunying 
Jaruwan Maintaka.  It is unlikely that the fight will end 
anytime soon. END SUMMARY. 
 
ONE STALEMATE IS BROKEN . . . 
 
2.    (SBU)  The Senate,s unexpected nomination of a new 
Auditor-General became a lightning rod of controversy for the 
Thai Rak Thai, and most notably for Senate Speaker Suchon 
Chaleekrua (reftel).  The Thai public has shown an unusual 
amount of anger towards the Senate because the move to 
replace the current Auditor-General without the King,s 
endorsement has been seen as a challenge to the King,s 
authority.  Although the King saves his direct involvement in 
political affairs for the most serious of issues, his silence 
on a proposal or a nominee almost always indicates his 
disapproval, and that he wants the parties to resolve it on 
their own.  As more time continued to pass after this 
nomination was submitted to the King, the more it came to be 
seen as challenging the King to do something*not something 
customarily done in Thailand.  By withdrawing the nomination, 
any perceived pressure for the King to make a statement on 
the matter*and thus any offense against the King*has ended. 
 The King accepted the withdrawal for consideration to the 
post, but did not say anything more about the fate of the 
current Auditor-General, Jaruwan. 
 
. . . WHILE ANOTHER LOOMS LARGE 
 
3.    (SBU)   The withdrawal breaks the stalemate but does 
not solve the ultimate problem: who is the rightful 
Auditor-General of Thailand?  Under the law, the ball is back 
in the hands of the Auditor-Committee of the Senate.  Each of 
the many options has a drawback.  It might be easiest to 
allow the current Auditor-General to serve until the end of 
her term, but that does not solve the constitutional question 
(her appointment may have been improperly done) or the 
political question (she is perceived as a scrupulous official 
who may embarrass Thai Rak Thai by uncovering and publicizing 
corruption.)  Any option that involves sending a new name to 
the King risks the repeating the cycle just completed ) a 
nomination met by a stony and accusatory silence. 
 
WHAT,S NEXT? 
 
4.    (SBU) The Auditor-General committee announced on 
Tuesday, September 27th, that they will take 10 days to study 
the situation more thoroughly before announcing what action 
they will take.  This announcement comes as an unexpected 
change that reflects growing rifts between members of the 
committee.  Prior to this issue turning into a controversy, 
the members were all firmly united in their demand that 
Jaruwan had to step down.  However, the committee has taken 
special note of the public outrage over the attempt to 
replace Jaruwan, as she is seen as someone whose untimely 
replacement was caused by her doing her job a little too 
well.  In the interim, the Senate has announced that they 
will meet on Monday, October 3rd to discuss the issue.  For 
now, Jaruwan is still the Auditor-General but remains on the 
sidelines, and there are continued calls for Senate Speaker 
Suchon to resign for mishandling the issue from the beginning. 
 
5.    (SBU) Comment.  The crisis has subsided for now, but it 
is not resolved.  Although the controversy slightly 
embarrassed the TRT, the party has also benefited--Jaruwan 
remains, for now, effectively sidelined from doing her job. 
No matter what the Auditor-General Committee decides, it will 
be some time before a fully-functioning Auditor-General is in 
operation, allowing Thailand,s many issues involving 
corruption to remain unaddressed.  End Comment. 
BOYCE