Charter writers agreed to a major curb on Friday, to prevent politicians interfering in the appointment of top civil servants at ministries.
The Constitution Drafting Committee chaired by Bowornsak Uwanno agreed on Friday to establish a committee to oversee the appointment of permanent secretaries at all ministries. (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)
The Constitution Drafting Committee agreed to propose the setting up of a seven-member panel to oversee the appointment and transfer of permanent secretaries at all ministries, CDC spokesman Kamonn Sidhisamarn said.
The spokesman said the decision is aimed at eliminating the influence of politicians in selecting senior ministry officials with links to them personally or to their political party to top jobs at ministries, and preventing the unfair transfer of senior officials.
The permanent secretary's position is normally decided by the minister in charge of the ministry under current practice.
An official who has close ties with the ruling party or with the minister is always promoted to the position. The Interior Ministry is one of the state agencies that is most often interfered with by politicians. The permanent secretary for interior has powerful authority, including the appointment and transfer of all provincial governors.
The proposed committee would comprise two officials selected by the Civil Service Commission, three retired permanent secretaries selected by serving permanent secretaries, and two officials who chair the ethics and morality panels at the ministries.
Every ministry would have an ethics panel and the chairs of the panel in all ministries would select among themselves the two people to be on the final committee.
The committee members would need endorsement from the Senate. They would sit on the committee for only three years and could not be reappointed.
Its task would be to select three candidates for the permanent secretary position and forward the list for the cabinet to pick one of them, the CDC said.
If the cabinet did not make a selection, the committee would exercise its power to pick one and send the winning candidate to the senate speaker for approval.
The proposed new charter needs to be sent to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for consideration in April. It also needs to win a referendum after passing the NLA.