Power is useless if authorities don't know how to utilise it, as latest move suggests.

A call by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) for state agencies to lodge petitions over corruption scandals and controversial projects it is investigating indicates an oversight in the junta's mission to follow up on the coup. It shows the junta did not know how to command its subordinates to get its goals achieved.

The Council for National Security (CNS) has said one of the main reasons it toppled Thaksin Shinawatra's government last September was rampant corruption, notably in state mega-projects. Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin and his family also appeared to break many laws in business deals by trying to avoid paying tax on stock transactions.

One of the junta's self-proclaimed key tasks is to clean out a swag of dodgy deals undertaken by the Thaksin regime. Indeed, this is seen as the prime goal by people who supported the coup.

Other missions, such as writing a new constitution, are perhaps no less important than cleaning up corruption in Thai politics. In fact, some say there were no serious flaws in the previous constitution, which many people, including some constitution drafters, want to use as a model for the new charter.

However, the junta-installed AEC has moved at a snail's pace in investigating corruption allegations. Although the committee claims to have made progress in 13 projects over the past three months, it has not brought any corrupt officials or politicians from the Thaksin administration to justice - to court - yet.

The political consequences for the military-backed government may be serious. It is now being accused of failing to perform despite having the power and a full mandate to act. Some even say the New Year's Eve bombings that killed three and injured at least 40 were a result of the junta and the government's failure to confront Thaksin and his strongest supporters - now feared to be involved in subversive acts - more forcefully.

Some hot-headed journalists and hard-line military officers have demanded the junta strengthen its grip and the government to take tougher action against Thaksin and his allies, even at the expense of people's freedom and human rights. Some political activists have suggested passing a special law to boost the CNS's power and enabled the junta to act quickly against Thaksin. That's because the interim constitution allows the junta chief to do nothing else but appoint and fire the prime minister.

However, such demands are a misstep, and it would be dangerous to free a tiger from the cage to hunt Thaksin. Boosting the junta's power could cost democracy and political reform, as people would need to sacrifice some rights.

The junta already has a tool for rooting out the Thaksin regime but has never thought to use it to full capacity. The AEC was supposed to be a powerful mechanism to tackle corruption at the heart of the previous government, but it has yet to deliver.

The CNS set up the 11-member body on September 30 to examine all allegedly corrupt projects and authorised it to use the anti-graft, anti-money-laundering and tax laws to handle the cases. While such power requires the AEC "to borrow other noses to take a breath", it still has enough legal authority to take action.

The only technical weak point is that it needs the cooperation of the National Counter Corruption Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Revenue Department in order to take action.

The AEC has its own budget but needs to share it with other agencies, such as the anti-graft body.

The junta authorised the AEC to activate corruption inquiries, but it is strange to see that the committee now needs state agencies to take action in regard to the cases it is looking at.

"Our investigations show that corrupt practices are evident in big projects like the Ua Athorn housing programme, the airport elevated-rail-link project and the rubber-seedling distribution scheme. This has caused considerable damage to the state and public interest," said AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibhodi.

However, no minister had followed up on the major corruption scandals, he told a seminar last week.

The junta's 30th order authorised the AEC to freeze the assets of people allegedly involved in corruption projects, but the committee has not frozen the assets of any politician yet accused of involvement in these scandals.

Rather than thinking about more power, the junta and its minions should learn to exercise their existing authority more effectively to get things done. Power is useless if the authorities do not know how use it.