Cabinet eyes 100 changes to charter

Cabinet eyes 100 changes to charter

Wissanu says advice largely mirrors CDC's

The cabinet has finalised its recommendations on the draft charter to the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), seeking changes to over 100 points.

Speaking after a three-hour special cabinet meeting to complete the recommendations on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said half of the suggestions deal with controversial content and the remainder choices of wording.

According to Mr Wissanu, the cabinet's recommendations are based on three concerns: how the government's initiatives for reforms and reconciliation will be carried out by future governments; what can be done to prevent the country falling back into a political crisis; and how the political system can be improved.

"These concerns should be addressed in the new charter," he said.

"If what we are doing now fails with the new charter, new parliament and new government ... or political unrest resumes, or huge corruption continues, that is a waste," he said.

However, he insisted the proposed changes are largely in line with the 315 sections prepared by the CDC. Some additions have been made for the sake of existing public independent agencies that need more mechanisms to work efficiently.

Among the changes proposed by the cabinet are deleting sections 181 and 182, a review of the open-list system under the mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system, and shortening the provisions on reforms and reconciliation.

Under Section 181, the prime minister may propose a motion to call for a vote of confidence at the House of Representatives. A vote must be held within seven days. If the motion is voted down, the prime minister may seek a House dissolution. If the House is split or votes in favour, a censure debate by the opposition cannot take place again.

Section 182 allows the government to propose important legislative bills for the opposition to deliberate in parliamentary sessions. The opposition must table a motion to debate the bills within 48 hours or they will be considered as having the backing of the House. 

Mr Wissanu said the cabinet has also proposed to delete a clause that allows a permanent secretary to assume a minister's duties if the position becomes vacant. He said such a clause would cause even more problems.

Some clauses that are ambiguous and deemed to lead to problems have also been recommended for review, he said. An example is a provision that requires politicians and state officials to adhere to religious practices or norms.

"What do these words mean, really? It can easily encourage complaints and lawsuits. These should be in a book of ethics, not in the constitution," he said.

Mr Wissanu said the cabinet voiced its disagreement to the proposed formation of about 30 various committees under the charter.

These panels should be addressed in separate organic laws, otherwise they will be held responsible if they cannot do their job in the required time frame.

He said the cabinet did not touch on the provision allowing for the appointment of a non-MP as prime minister and the elections of MPs and senators, but noted that amendments to these issues will probably be proposed by other agencies.

"Overall, the draft charter has a lot of good elements. It is likely to solve certain problems. It strongly establishes the rights and freedom of people. But some parts can be more concise, cut or put somewhere else [organic laws]," he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday the government's primary concern is how to make sure that the reform and reconciliation process under the charter will be implemented and political conflicts will not be rekindled.

"If we don't want to go back [to before last year's coup], we have to come up with measures by drafting this charter in a way that will not lead to [political conflict and] a coup again.

"The point is not about weakening power. It is about using the power and using it right. We should think who will step in if conflict returns. Weakening the military to prevent a coup isn't an answer," he said.

National Reform Council (NRC) president Thienchay Kiranandana said yesterday the proposed trimming down of the provisions on reforms would not affect the reforms being planned by the NRC.

He said the NRC is drafting a reform framework and is not responsible for implementing reform proposals.

He pointed out that whether reforms materialise depends on the people responsible for implementing them.

The NRC's reform proposals are expected to be finalised by the second week of June, according to Mr Thienchay.

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