Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan says panels tasked to select members of independent bodies will decide whether the existing members of the agencies are qualified under the new constitution.
His remarks came amid anxiety among existing members of independent bodies regarding whether they will fail to meet the qualifications stipulated by the new charter.
For choosing Constitutional Court judges under Section 203 of the draft constitution, the selection committee will consist of the Supreme Court's president, the House speaker and a leader of the opposition party, each of whom will be selected by five independent bodies -- the Election Commission (EC), the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG), the Ombudsman and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
A similar structure will apply for all other independent bodies, but the members selected by the five independent agencies for various panels must not be the same ones, according to Section 217.
Regarding disputes over the qualifications of existing members of independent agencies, Mr Meechai said the first selection committee will set the criteria and they should be pursued by all other selection bodies. The selection panel for the EC members is expected to be set up first.
Concerns have been raised about the fate of some existing members of independent bodies.
According to the draft charter, a member of an independent agency cannot be a former member of another independent body. With this criterion, Election Commissioner Prawit Ratanapian risks losing his job as he previously served as the Ombudsman, according to political observers.
Mr Meechai said the qualification restriction has been put in place to prevent members of independent bodies from jumping to other public agencies as new people are favoured.
Selection panels will size up the independent organisations to determine how many new members are needed, he said.
The selection panels' decisions will be final, and can neither be disputed nor taken to the Constitutional Court for consideration, the CDC chairman said.
"Most of the existing members of independent bodies are still qualified," Mr Meechai asserted.
He noted the CDC is considering the time period for the process of selecting the members of the independent bodies in a way that it does not hinder the regime's planned roadmap.
The CDC is in the process of drafting organic laws in preparation for the election, tentatively planned to take place late next year, but some elements in the laws have drawn criticism from National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members, including a proposal for the death penalty against politicians involved in selling and buying political positions under the draft organic law on political parties.
"There can be a difference of opinion and this is acceptable," Mr Meechai said. "But if we indulge in quarrels, we will not be able to move forward."
EC member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said in a Facebook post that the restrictions imposed on independent organisations' members are critical for three bodies -- the Constitutional Court, the EC and the NACC.
However the NHRC, the OAG and the Ombudsman are relatively less strict regarding the qualifications of their members, he noted.
