by choopong » Wed May 26, 2004 5:08 am
Liverpool please reconsider Thailand bid. Lots of people here can not see how they can benefit from the purchase. Please do not take money from us. Followings are Bangkok Post newspaper column :
LIVERPOOL SHARE PURCHASE
Academics warn govt of illegality
'Profit-driven action' flies in face of charter
Post reporters
The government has defied the constitution by spearheading efforts to establish a company and issue a mega lottery to mobilise public funds to buy a 30% stake in Liverpool Football Club, Thammasat University law academics say.
In an open letter, the academics led by law faculty dean Surapol Nitikraipoj, said the constitution does not permit the government to run any enterprise for profit and its bid for a stake in the English football club was in essence profit-driven.
The academics warned the government may be breaking the law by cutting corners to achieve its ends through ''questionable means''.
The letter said the constitutional leeway which allowed government to conduct business was meant to serve national security, preserve public interest, and allocate public utilities. Acquiring a stake in Liverpool Club did not satisfy any of these conditions.
Yet the government was going to great lengths playing host to fund-raising activities to buy club shares, which was illegal. The case in point is its plan to issue a special lottery draw with a grand prize of one billion baht. Each lottery ticket will be converted into shares amounting to 40% of a holding company's value.
The firm would be set up with the lottery funds to invest in Liverpool shares and it would be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The academics insisted the Liverpool lottery was not the kind of government undertaking the law permitted. The lottery was profit-oriented and not intended to benefit charities or public well-being.
The cabinet has appointed the Sports and Tourism Ministry to oversee the mobilisation of public funds to buy the Liverpool stake.
The academics dismissed as an excuse the government's claim that buying into the club would promote football skills among Thai youth.
The letter charged the government was twisting the principle in order to justify its own action.
The chorus of public disapproval has grown, as many began asking why Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra did not fork out his own money to secure the shares, which appeared to be his personal endeavour from the start.
The law lecturers said while they agreed with engaging people in sports, the cash the government tried to raise through lottery would be better spent building stadiums or sports colleges.
While demanding the lottery be cancelled, the academics warned that if the government went ahead it must bear the full extent of political and legal responsibility.
Prime Minister Thaksin yesterday said the deal had not been finalised and negotiations with Liverpool would take another five or six weeks.