She said, however, that she would keep a low profile from now on.

Meanwhile, her husband Preecha, the younger brother of Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, said he was ready to testify before an anti-graft commission regarding alleged misconduct by defence officials relating to the controversy.

Pongphan said she wanted to help people in remote rural areas, adding that it had been the villagers’ idea to name the dyke in Chiang Mai after her. It was built with public funds.

The Association for the Protection of the Thai Constitution on Monday lodged a petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) against Preecha and other officials at the defence ministry over alleged misconduct.

“If the NACC orders me to testify, I will go. I have all the evidence [to prove my innocence]. I know what I’m doing,” Preecha said, adding that his family had not done anything wrong and he was not worried.

He also encouraged involved parties to “seek the truth”.

Preecha has been accused of misconduct and dereliction of duty for employing Army resources to fund or facilitate extraneous projects.

The accusations stem from social media criticism after Pongphan, head of the Wives Association of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence (WAOPSD), on Monday last week presided over the opening of a dyke in the northern province of Chiang Mai.

She was criticised after pictures showed a sign bearing her image and name, which was erected near the newly constructed “Mae Pongphan Development” dyke. Critics have said the dyke should not have been named after her.

The charge of misconduct alleges Army officers and aircraft were inappropriately used to construct the dyke and facilitate Pongphan’s trip.

Air Force spokesman Air Vice Marshal Pongsak Semachai, meanwhile, said military personnel had responded to a request from the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence to provide aircraft, with no mention of the family connection.

Pongsak said the Air Force was not involved in the current controversy, adding that he could prove his military branch had behaved appropriately.

Last April, Preecha met harsh criticism when he appointed his youngest son, Patipat Chan-o-cha, to the post of second lieutenant in the Army.

Since last week, his wife Pongphan has become the new target of criticism after her photos were widely shared on the Internet, with many people commenting that the image of the project was highly inappropriate.

A local news agency also reported that the couple’s oldest son, Pathompol Chan-o-cha, had allegedly obtained business concessions for Army construction projects worth Bt26.9 million.

Preecha has said he did not abuse his power to help his son to win deals with the Army, but he added that his family would not explain the issue to the public following Prayut‘s advice.

“My brother called me to warn me to be careful. Senior figures also told me to keep a low profile,” he said, adding that he believed that “what goes around, comes around”.

Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also defence minister, yesterday said it was not his ministry’s responsibility to inspect business concessions for Army construction projects obtained by the company of the nephew of the prime minister.

“If there is anything, they [the 3rd Army area] will set up a committee and follow [investigation] procedures as usual,” Prawit said. “They should see if prices [agreed between the Army and the company] are of appropriate amounts. But it will be overseen by the Army’s area commander, not the Defence Ministry.”

The Appeals Court upheld the lower court’s sentence of a suspended one-year jail term and a fine of Bt50,000 each for Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, Thepthai Senpong and Sirichok Sopha.

The Appeals Court found that the three defendants defamed Yingluck, the co-plaintiff, during their “Sai Lor Fah”, or “Lightning Rod”, satellite-TV show on the Blue Sky station on February 10 and 15 in 2012.

Public prosecutors and Yingluck filed a lawsuit with the Criminal Court in March 2014, accusing the three of defaming the then-prime minister during the shows and causing a public misperception about her.

The Criminal Court convicted the three on August 27 last year and put them on probation for two years after they received the fine and suspended jail terms. The three were also ordered to publish a summary of the ruling in five newspapers for seven consecutive days.

The three defendants appealed against the ruling while Yingluck urged the court to not suspend the jail term.

In their argument in the appeal, the three defendants claimed that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit quoted them out of context and mixed up their quotes from the programme to claim that they had defamed Yingluck.

But the Appeals Court ruled that the lawsuit did not edit the quotes of the three defendants and cited the entire comments made. The Appeals Court said the three used words with special meanings to lead their audience to think Yingluck had behaved improperly by meeting with businessmen at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Regarding Yingluck’s request for the court to reinstate the jail terms, the Appeals Court ruled the co-plaintiff failed to clarify events on the day of the meeting, which was an issue raised by the defendants.

As a result, the Appeals Court agreed with the lower court that the three defendants had good intentions in citing the incident so that Yingluck would clarify to the public what had happened. On those grounds, the Appeals Court upheld the lower court’s decision to suspend the one-year jail terms and put the three on probation instead.

Thepthai said he would consult with his lawyer whether to appeal against the ruling again.

Endorsed by 168 votes, the proposals say that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Civil Service Commission should amend relevant laws on financial disclosures.

The NACC currently requires only political office holders and high-ranking officials to disclose their assets.

The proposals also say that it should be clearly stipulated which officers are responsible for procurement and at which administrative level.

The Comptroller General’s Department should also come up with median prices for comparisons to prevent officials taking advantage of varied prices, the report said.

The reports also suggest setting Anti-Corruption Centres (ACCs) within government offices to help regulate, inspect and evaluate the performance of officials.

Officials should also encourage graft-fighting within their |agencies.

The NRSA panel also proposed moves to promote good governance in the private sector and suggested harsher measures against companies wrongfully exploiting the stock market.

The Anti Money Laundering Office should also apply stricter controls over companies that have operations and subsidiaries outside the country, including financial disclosure.

Both approved reports would be submitted to the NRSA |president and the Cabinet for |further consideration.

“We lose the opportunity to stand gracefully among world communities every time we have a coup,” she said.

Yingluck’s elder brother, the fugitive ex-premier Thaksin, was toppled by a coup on September 19, 2006.

Yingluck said her Pheu Thai government was overthrown in the 2014.

Acting Pheu Thai secretary general Phumtham Wechayachai said throughout the past 10 years Thai society had been divided and the country’s principles distorted.

He said the coup was a victory over democracy and justice.

“I still have hope and wait for the day democracy, justice and better living return to the country,” he said.

The move follows an awkward delay by agencies such as the Election Commission, which has drafted a new election bill for Parliament.

The EC is seeking tougher punishment in its draft organic law for any poll candidate it finds guilty of committing election fraud. Drafters of the new charter wanted such people banned from running in elections for 10 years and to pay compensation for state funds spent in any election that is voided.

These penalties are an interpretation of Section 226 in the new charter. The section says people found guilty of electoral fraud after a poll result is announced will have their cases submitted to court and their rights to run in elections will be revoked or their electoral rights possibly revoked for 10 years.

But the EC wants courts to be able to ban people convicted of electoral fraud from politics for life.

It has proposed ‘red cards’ and ‘black cards’ to denote the penalties. However, confusion arose because there was no clear stipulation about the basis of guilt to determine whether a wrongdoer is banned for 10 years – or for life.

Politicians have attacked the EC for taking the matter too far while officials argued that they strictly followed the constitution passed in last month’s referendum, which says that peoeple committing election fraud must be barred from entering politics.

After a three-hour meeting yesterday between the CDC and the EC, election expert Jarungwit Phumma told in a press briefing the drafters would be responsible for revising the EC’s draft organic law and would write clearly the basis of guilt for the issuing of ‘red’ and ‘black cards’.

Besides that issue, Jarungwit said the EC explained and clarified to the charter drafters the rationale behind its organic law draft.

He said, in short, the EC aimed to make election campaigns and contests inexpensive to allow new players who have less resources to contest an election and to tackle the problem of political parties receiving support from financiers.

In response to claims that the agency was boosting its power via the law, the EC man said it just followed the new charter, which aims to eradicate corruption in any form.

The EC is responsible for helping the drafters to write four organic laws on political parties, the election of MPs, selection of the Senate, plus rules and regulations for its agency. In order to make an election possible late next year, those laws are must be completed early next year.

Meanwhile, chief drafter Meechai Ruchupan said that those ultimately ruled by the Supreme Court as guilty of election fraud should be politically banned for life, according to the new constitution. Other minor offences, however, would likely be end with wrongdoers being deprived of their electoral rights for 10 years. Meechai said the law would be completed late this month.

The popular pollster asked 1,167 people nationwide selected at random four questions: What satisfied them the most about the government’s performance?, What disappointed them the most?, What did they wish to see in the government’s third year in office?, And what did they think of Thursday’s press conference detailing the government’s two-year performance report?

Some 73.5 per cent of respondents to the poll were most dissatisfied with the economic slowdown and high living costs.

That was followed by low prices for agricultural products (72 per cent), restrictions on freedom of expression (70.6 per cent), concerns over crime (59 per cent), and ongoing conflict and violence in the three southernmost provinces (52 per cent).

Conversely, the Prayut government’s policies to combat graft and the mafia were very popular at 82.7 per cent, followed by its efforts to restore peace and order (78 per cent), the junta’s achievements in line with its road map (70.7 per cent), suppression of forest and public-area encroachment (67 per cent), and transport infrastructure development (60 per cent).

Asked what they wished to see in the third year of the Prayut administration, economic development easily scored highest (80.5 per cent), followed by people’s well-being and welfare (74 per cent), peace and order (73 per cent), continued suppression of corruption (65 per cent), and an election and democracy (60.7 per cent).

Asked what they thought of the government’s two-year performance report, people said they now understood more about the junta’s performance (76 per cent), followed by people learning about the government’s concrete achievements and future work plans (72 per cent).

Some 70 per cent want the junta to carry on its work and build trust with the public, while nearly 70 per cent were satisfied with its performance but said several things could still not be resolved.

Second poll: Security and political stability best

Meanwhile, another popular poll, Super Poll, released its latest survey results yesterday that showed the Prayut government’s efforts to maintain security and political stability was what won it top marks, followed by its work on social issues, notably corruption.

The poll showed its economic efforts needed most improvement.

Off 1,237 respondents, 63 per cent gave the Prayut administration a satisfied rating, while theThaksin Shinawatra administration scored just over 11 per cent, the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration 10 per cent, and the Yingluck administration 5 per cent.

Most people want the Prayut government to make them happy, generate jobs, and create an

environment where they have money to spend.