House Speaker Delays National Anti-Corruption Body Referral

At 11:00 AM on July 16, 2025, House Speaker Sophon Saram held a press conference at Parliament regarding opposition members' and senators' petition under Constitution Section 236 to refer the matter to the Supreme Court and establish an independent investigative committee to examine the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) over its dismissal of stock manipulation charges against former Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob.

Sophon explained that after receiving the petition on June 5, he had to verify the authenticity of the signatures and discovered two senators with mismatched signatures. He instructed staff to confirm the signatures with the Senate Secretariat, which validated them on June 25. Parliamentary business kept him occupied the following week, and only on July 1 did he review the details. He found that the law allows him discretionary authority, and before exercising it, he reviewed similar past cases involving multiple former house speakers who had established committees.

Sophon stated that since the law grants him discretion but he lacks sufficient legal expertise like anyone else, he opted to form a committee on July 15 comprising external experts and two parliamentary insiders. He acknowledged the committee-formation process takes time and denied accusations of delay or whitewashing, asserting he has no reason to delay. On the timeline, he said no deadline was set, allowing the committee to proceed as appropriate.

Responding to questions about his neutrality between government and opposition, Sophon claimed he has been as impartial as possible, noting that the government has accused him of bias while the opposition has praised him when he ruled in their favor. He stressed that accusations of bias are vague and that truly siding with one faction would create enemies on the other. He emphasized relying on parliamentary rules to avoid such tensions and said he has asked all three presiding officers to help amend rules that cannot be practically enforced, particularly those granting the speaker broad discretionary power. He noted that after nearly two decades in Parliament, parliamentary matters should end in the chamber, but increasingly decisions are aired at press conferences, where critics praise his impartiality or question it.