Political interference behind the sacking of GPO chief: rural doctors

Witit Artavatkun

The sacking of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO)'s managing director was due to political interference, health advocates and the Rural Doctors Society said yesterday.

The claimed that Friday's decision by the GPO's executive board to fire Witit Artavatkun for negligence could be part of a broader plan to privatise the state drug maker.

"Personally, I believe that a politician has intervened with the decision of the GPO's executive board to fire Witit, as the evidence they used to scrutinise him and that was shown to members of the public was not enough to fire him," said Thai Drug Watch manager Niyada Kiartyingangsulee.

The GPO is facing new challenges from this political intervention, she said.

"We are worried that the country's drug procurement will be in trouble."

Witit was sacked over alleged irregularities in the procurement of raw material to produce paracetamol and the delayed construction of an influenza vaccine factory and an HIV/Aids drug plant.

Dr Vachira Botpiboon, a former president of the Rural Doctors Society, said the decision to fire Witit could be compared with the fable of The Wolf and the Lamb by the ancient Greek storyteller Aesop, with politicians bullying officials who do not follow their orders.

Explanation

"Witit gave a clear explanation to the GPO's executive board over what really happened with the stockpile of raw material to produce paracetamol and the delay in the influenza vaccine plant as well as the HIV/Aids drug plant, but it seems there was a political intervention into the decision to fire him," he said.

He added that Witit's explanation for the delay in the construction of the influenza vaccine plant was reasonable, as at that time Thailand had faced huge problems with flooding. In addition, the country had no experts who knew how to construct the plant, so the delay in construction was normal.

"I just want the GPO's executive board to reconsider their decision," he said. "Witit sacrificed himself for the nation for several years and all of them know him very well. They shouldn't do the wrong thing to secure their positions and serve politicians."

Meanwhile, Witit said he had tried to explain to the GPO's executive board many times about the stockpiling of raw material to make paracetamol and related issues.

"They already had their answer when they first started asking me," he said. "I am okay. I do not blame anyone. And it is not clear whether this is a political game or not. I do not want to speak about this issue. I do not know, what do you think about it? Is it a political game?"

Rawai Phoorakha, president of the GPO's labour union, said he believed that the decision to remove Witit was part of a three-step plan to privatise the state drug maker.

He explained that politicians would first try to discredit the GPO, then weaken the state drug maker and finally privatise it.

Rawai said the union would join with the Rural Doctors Society to hand a petition to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra calling for a stop to political intervention in the GPO on June 6.

Latest stories in this category

• Political interference behind the sacking of GPO chief:..


• The sacking of the Government Pharmaceutical..


• Thailand to host Muslim conference


• NGO backing for P-move protests

We Recommend

• Thai Spring launches online campaign against Yingluck


• The speech Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra..


• Will this marriage end conflicts?


• True, CTH battle for TV top spot

Comments conditions

Users are solely responsible for their comments.We reserve the right to remove any comment and revoke posting rights for any reason withou prior notice.

Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/05/19/political-interference-behind-the-sacking-of-gpo-chief-rural-doctors/