Pracha: Never Feel Bad to Help People
 Pracha Promnok said no politicians should feel bad to help people in trouble, including their own constituents.
During Sunday’s censure debate at parliament, the justice minister, whom the Democrat-led Opposition was grilling over his alleged failures to effectually help out flood victims in the provinces and Bangkok’s suburbs, told his party colleagues they should never regret having contributed to the government’s flood relief efforts.
‘’Don’t feel bad about what we’ve done to help out the people even though it might possibly get ourselves impeached. But I couldn’t stand it if we were impeached on grounds of involvement in corruption,’’ said Pracha.
He said all lawmakers elected by the people were simply obliged to help the people including their constituents victimized by flooding.
The Democrats held Pracha accountable for alleged misconducts involving the performances of the Flood Control & Relief Center headed by the justice minister.
Chief opposition whip Jurin Laksanavisit charged Pracha had unduly put several Puea Thai MPs in charge of distributing subsistency bags for flood victims in Bangkok’s submerged suburbs because, he said, the constitution does not allow them to get involved in the running of affairs by any government agency, including the Flood Control & Relief Center.
The government lawmakers named by the justice minister to help with the handing out of the subsistency bags included Karoon Hosakul, Surachat Tiantong, Anusak Lek-uthai and Worachai Hemma.
Jurin, who endorsed the Democrat-filed impeachment bid against Pracha, alleged the subsistency bags had been procured at prices higher than market rates for which he also held Pracha’s center responsible.
‘’The 800-baht bags contained a five-kg bag of rice which was reported to have been bought by the government at 192 baht but the market price was no more than 100 baht,’’ the chief opposition whip said.
He alleged more than two billion baht had been wasted away by the government-controled center in the procurement of those relief items.
But Pracha contended no misconducts had been perpetrated as charged by the Opposition and those bags had been procured at prices even cheaper than those earlier bought by a previous Abhisit government under a similar relief mission.
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