Bangkok Post

The government is expected today to submit a motion to amend Section 291 of the charter to pave the way for a charter rewrite.

Under the proposed amendment, 77 CDA members will be elected in all provinces by voters and 22 others will be picked by parliament.

The government-proposed CDA is nearly identical to the previous proposals except for a few points, which will draw close scrutiny and fierce attacks when critics of the charter amendment get in on the act.

Among them is that the draft amendment stops short of banning politicians from participating in the charter rewrite.

This means once Section 291 is passed by parliament it will pave the way for an influx of politicians, or rather their nominees, to become CDA members.

Another key point of the amendment is that it appears to be written in a way to secure the birth of a new charter.

Besides the tight time-frame for establishing the assembly and the drafting process, it allows a new CDA to be formed within 90 days if the first assembly fails to finish the rewrite.

The bill also opens the way for a rewrite bid if the CDA's version is rejected in a referendum. One-third of MPs and senators can propose a fresh charter rewrite process after that.

However, the charter amendment effort must be suspended until a new parliament is elected if the draft is rejected by the current parliament.

The charter amendment push is likely to attract equally strong movements in favour, and against, given that political divisions are at an all-time high.

The attempt to amend the constitution is expected to benefit certain groups which are restricted by the 2007 "coup-sponsored" charter.

Meanwhile, government chief whip Udomdet Rattanasathien said yesterday all coalition parties had pledged their support for Pheu Thai's motion to amend Section 291 to set up a CDA.

However, there are some slight differences between the Pheu Thai Party and coalition parties over when the draft charter should be put up for a referendum, he said.

The Pheu Thai wants the draft charter to be put up for a referendum after the rewrite process is completed, while the Chartthaipattana Party wants parliament to first scrutinise the bill.

"But that's a slight detail we can work out later. It can be finalised while the amendment is vetted by a committee," Mr Udomdet said.

He said the Pheu Thai does not mind if Chartthaipattana submits its own version of a charter amendment draft along with the party's.

The shadow cabinet of the Democrat Party has resolved to oppose the government's attempt to rewrite the constitution.

Democrat MP for Bangkok Attawitch Suwanpakdi said the party is sceptical about the motives behind the amendment and the transparency involved in forming the CDA.

"It will be dominated by Pheu Thai. We aren't sure if the amendment will extend to cover sections concerning independent public agencies or the institution of the monarchy," he said.

He insisted that Democrat MPs would not stage a walk-out during the charter rewrite debate.

"We will join the debate, but we will vote against it," he said.

The Siam Pracha Piwat academic group yesterday said it opposed the proposed charter amendment, describing the plan as a ploy to strengthen Pheu Thai's dominance in parliament.

The group said the country's problems were based on executive dominance which weakened the checks and balances mechanisms and undermined the separation of power and principles of democracy.

It said the 1997 charter was exploited to achieve executive dominance and the government's attempt to amend the constitution is aimed at consolidating it.

"The government and its allies are trying to mislead the public into thinking charter amendment is needed to stabilise the government and exert control over the military," the group said. "It is trying to distort the problem and the fact the system is being monopolised. The real intent is to consolidate its power."

Meanwhile, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) will present the group's version of a charter amendment draft to the parliament president today.

UDD chairwoman Tida Tawornseth said that the UDD's version would result in a CDA comprising a fairer spread of representatives from all provinces.