(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Senate’s appointment of the long-awaited National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) could create another legal stumbling block to a reform process aimed at ending state control over the broadcasting industry, SEAPA has warned. In a secret ballot casting on 23 September 2005, the upper house voted in 7 out of 14 finalists, including some […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Senate’s appointment of the long-awaited National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) could create another legal stumbling block to a reform process aimed at ending state control over the broadcasting industry, SEAPA has warned.
In a secret ballot casting on 23 September 2005, the upper house voted in 7 out of 14 finalists, including some with conflicts of interest in the broadcast industry, to sit on the country’s first independent broadcast regulatory body. Minority senators suspected the vote was rigged after it was discovered that 84 senators out of 161 present at the session voted for the exact same candidates.
Legal experts and opponents of the Senate’s NBC vote have warned that NBC appointees may not receive a royal endorsement due to legal complications. This could further delay the liberalisation of the broadcast industry, they said.
Broadcast watchdog groups and media reform advocates protested that the NBC vote went against a recommendation made by a Senate scrutinising subcommittee that some of the finalists had conflicts of interest in the broadcast industry and that the selection process was flawed. It was the NBC selection process’s second round.
In 2003, the Supreme Administrative Court had ruled to invalidate the first round of the NBC selection process due to its skewed process.
Media reformists are facing a dilemma as to whether or not to allow the final but flawed NBC nomination process to go forward, because in the absence of the NBC, the state freely manipulates the airwaves as a means of controlling the broadcast media.
The Campaign for Popular Democracy Reform is preparing to file criminal lawsuits for malfeasance against the Senate and agencies involved in the selection process.
Senator Chirmsak Pinthong questioned whether the new NBC appointees would ensure fairness and transparency in frequency allocations since some of them are linked to either state or commercial stakeholders in the current broadcasting business.
On 28 September, the broadcast professional watchdog Thai Broadcast Journalists Association (TBJA) expressed disappointment with the Senate’s decision to give the NBC a go ahead. TBJA however urged the public to closely monitor the NBC to ensure that it performs its duty in line with the constitutional mandate it was given.
Business operators however welcomed it as a bold move to kick-start a much-delayed process to liberalise the broadcast industry.