The two deputy governors – Jumpol Sampaopol and Amorn Kitchawengkul – must take responsibility for the corruption scandal, he said. Their boss Sukhumbhand Paribatra’s claim that he was innocent because he did not endorse the project did not hold water, he said. As head of the city administration, Governor Sukhumbhand could not escape accountability, Vilas said.

The embattled governor is facing pressure to resign after the Office of the Auditor-General uncovered several apparent cases of abuse of authority and implicated him along with eight others over the project.

Vilas warned Sukhumbhand to think twice about counter-suing the office because he could suffer unwelcome fallout from doing that.

“If the governor believes that the project was proper, why didn’t he endorse it? The private sector can sue the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration if that’s the case,” he said.

Former Democrat party-list MP Bunyod Sukthinthai said Sukhumbhand had failed to clarify the points questioned by the auditors. The next step is to wait and see if the National Anti-Corruption Commission takes up the corruption complaint against the governor, he said.

The Democrats have been trying to get Sukhumbhand to clarify the situation to the party, but to no avail, leading to the party’s decision to disown him, he said. If the NACC rules that there are grounds to believe that Sukhumbhand was involved in the alleged corruption, he should be suspended from office until he can prove his innocence, he said.

The party had no comment on the call by Vilas to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to resort to his sweeping powers under Article 44 of the junta-imposed interim constitution to dismiss Sukhumbhand. The governor should be given the chance to prove his innocence through normal justice procedures, Bunyod said.