Tinnakorn Chaowachuen
The Nation November 30, 2012 1:00 am
The internal conflict at the Federation of Thai Industries has worsened, as beleaguered chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol seeks political support to keep his job.
Thanit Sorat, who belongs to the camp that voted Payungsak out, said yesterday that this issue should not be politicised, as it is an internal conflict of a private-sector organisation.
However, he said Payungsak was now guarding the FTI building with police officers and claiming that the officers were dispatched by order of the Prime Minister's Office. Some FTI members upcountry also said they were persuaded by provincial governors to lend support to Payungsak.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong announced yesterday that the government would continue working with the FTI with Payungsak as chairman, until the conflict is resolved. Payungsak will represent the FTI at a meeting today aimed at discussing the impacts of the minimum-wage increase on industrial operators.
On Monday, a group of 184 FTI executive members voted Payungsak out of office, on grounds that the chairman had done too little to help members on several fronts, including the minimum-wage hike.
They also voted to have former chairman Santi Vilassakdanont replace Payungsak. Under the terms of the vote, Santi would complete the remainder of Payungsak's second term, which ends in March 2014.
Payungsak fought back the next day, saying at a press conference that he was still the chairman. The Industry Ministry, which supervises the organisation, has been brought in to look into the legal issues involving the legality of Monday's vote.
People at the FTI want to resolve the conflict internally, Thanit said. Payungsak also sent his representative to negotiate with Santi. Thanit added that such a discussion was a good thing, but should take place at the FTI office. This would require Payungsak to remove all police officers from the building, he said.
Thanit was summoned for a meeting with Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk yesterday, to speak for his group. Thanit told the minister that Payungsak had ignored his main responsibility and used his own judgement in relocating FTI officers.
He said the vote would not have taken place if Payungsak had attended the November 26 executive members' meeting and explained the facts. Payungsak cancelled the meeting and brought police officers to the FTI building, something that has never happened in the federation's history.
After receiving the required documents from Payungsak, the minister is also asking for documents from the other side.
Prasert told reporters that technically, both Payungsak and Santi were chairmen and the ministry would clear up the confusion as soon as possible. He said the ministry would investigate whether the voting process followed the FTI Act, based on the invitations to the meeting, the agenda and the meeting minutes. The process would be strictly based on the law, he said, to defuse the internal conflict.
Industry permanent secretary Witoon Simachokdee added that this confusion should be brought to an end within a week, if a consensus could be reached.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/11/30/fti-chairman-politicises-job-battle/
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