Coalition unites over constitution rewrite

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Coalition unites over constitution rewrite

Published: 11 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Four coalition parties yesterday vowed to support the government's bid to amend the constitution.

Charupong: Change will bring fair charter

The consensus was announced after a meeting between Pheu Thai leader Charupong Ruangsuwan, Chartthaipattana Party leader Chumpol Silpa-archa, Chart Pattana secretary-general Prasert Boonchaisuk, and Sansak Ngampichet, a representative of the Phalang Chon Party.

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bubpa
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Discussion 11 : 11 Dec 2012 at 17.0611
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There must be a law that prohibit elected person from avoiding to attend to her or his job in the parliament and there must be a limit on absent times from the job. The taxpayers want elected persons to do their jobs in the parliament, not ducking the responsibilities all of the time.
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democrazy
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Discussion 10 : 11 Dec 2012 at 17.0110
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The whole House of Lords in the UK is appointed, not elected by the people.
So the whole political system in the UK is undemocratic. Right ?
But up to 2006, the 1997 Constitution allowed the wives and relatives of MPs and ministers to be perfectly qualified to be a senator in Thailand.
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spiceman
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Discussion 9 : 11 Dec 2012 at 14.409
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Does Thai Constitution only belong to the majority or all Thai people? I say we should do what the Americans would have done, by putting the proposed constitutional amendment to a vote in the House of Representative, and if a 3/4 supermajority is reached in favor of the amendment, it will become the Law of the land. However, passing it with anything less than a supermajority will be a recipe for a civil war.
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jacksprat
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Discussion 8 : 11 Dec 2012 at 12.288
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@discussion 3 - The appointed senators are not chosen by "god knows who". They are chosen by the Senators Selection Committee and it is well known who they are: the President of the Constitution Court, the Chairman of the Election Committee, the Chairman of the State Audit Committee, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice and a Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court. Whether this is democratic is one thing, but there is nothing mysterious about them.
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ringmaster
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Discussion 7 : 11 Dec 2012 at 12.067
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IMHO There are several problems with the current constitution. Appointed Senators, too much power to the judiciary, etc... The bottom line is that the current Thai constitution puts elected governments suffering at the whim of the old elite. Don't like the government? Find a pretext to remove them. It makes parliamentary democracy weak and vulnerable, which is why it was written that way in the first place.
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tu-whit
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Discussion 6 : 11 Dec 2012 at 10.586
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It's funny, but back in Nov. & Dec. of 2006, AV, Sonthi, and a whole host of politicians said that if we vote yes on the constitution, we can ALWAYS amend it later. Welllllll, it's later and now the same politicians are against the amendment. Whats up with that?
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banmebkk
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Discussion 5 : 11 Dec 2012 at 09.555
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2007 Charter is pretty good except for the fact that it gave coup makers amnesty. Other than that it closed a lot of loop holes such as giving MP Amnesty, revoke governments ability to ban media licenses to name a few. 2012 wants to reverse all that, I say its moving backwards.
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bubpa
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Discussion 4 : 11 Dec 2012 at 09.404
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Why is it so urgent for the government to vote on the third reading of the charter amendment bill? Mr. Waipot and the red shirts? The judiciary system did a great job to protect laws and orders in the country and did justice to corrupt politicians. Please tell us (other Thais who don’t wear red) specifically what is wrong with the current constitution? However we do need the bill that exclude unqualified persons to become members of parliament, a bill that can expel crude and rudely behaved persons from the parliament, expulsion of unjust chairperson in the parliament and expel person who avoid doing his or her job. There must be a law th
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hyponeros
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Discussion 3 : 11 Dec 2012 at 09.393
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Finally! It should have happened long time ago! It is mind blowing that people actually support a constitution implemented by a military junta! A constitution that allows senators to be picked (not elected!!!)among "good people" by god knows who! Who defines what "good people" are? Who has the power to chose those people? The majority of voters? No! A minority of people who place themselves above everybody else!
Who could support such a farce of a constitution, besides those benefiting from it?
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dickemery
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Discussion 2 : 11 Dec 2012 at 08.282
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its disappointing that these coalition parties ,with out any thought of what there doing ,to rip up the fundemental institute of this nation,is iresponsible and naive ,the power of the dollar once again,its so sad,to have to rewrite because of one convicted criminal to whiewash him of his crimes
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