CDC proposes 'national virtue assembly'

CDC proposes 'national virtue assembly'

The Constitution Drafting Committee agreed on Monday to establish a panel responsible for conducting ethics inquiries against political office holders and senior government officials.

The body, unofficially named as the "national virtue assembly", tentatively was set at 55 members and will be tasked with establishing ethical and moral standards for both local and national politicians, Gen Lertrat Rattanawanich, the CDC's spokesman, said.

Five of the 55 assembly members would be selected by the Senate and the rest handpicked by an appointed selection committee.

If a probe conducted by the assembly found a prime minister, any cabinet member, MP, senator or local administrator guilty of a serious breach of its ethical code of conduct, Gen Lertrat said, a vote would be held durig the next general election to let voters decide if they want the official impeached. If impeached, the official would be banned from politics for five years. 

As for non-elected public figure, such as high-ranking civil servants and ministerial secretary-generals, impeachment would be conducted through a parliamentary process.

The CDC spokesman said that in the case of minor breaches of the ethics rules, the agency to which the accused is attached could take disciplinary action immediately after the official had been ruled guilty by the assembly. It could proceed without having to launch its own probe.

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