Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday insisted the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has no plans to amend the interim charter to extend the National Reform Council’s (NRC) tenure if the draft constitution is voted down.
Gen Prayut, who is also the NCPO chief, said he has only instructed the NCPO’s legal advisers to find a way to solve any problems if the draft charter is rejected.
The interim charter, which governs the charter-drafting process, must be strictly followed, he said.
Borwornsak: Sticking by citizens
Under the interim charter, the NRC and the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) will be dissolved if the final charter draft is rejected by the NRC.
The drafting process would then return to square one, and no members of either body can be reappointed. New members will be selected to replace them.
Reports have emerged in recent days about the possibility of some NRC members trying to amend the interim constitution so they can remain in office should they reject the draft charter.
Meanwhile, CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno yesterday defended the choice of the word polla muang or “citizens” which appears in the draft charter, saying the word carries the connotation that people are actively participating in politics.
He was responding to a cabinet proposal to delete the term.
Mr Borwornsak said the choice of wording is not the issue, but what matters most is to come up with practical measures to improve people’s attitudes and behaviour.
“Any word will do as long as it involves action to address the country’s problems,” he said.
He said it is important to change a deeply entrenched culture in which many Thais are not keen on politics and the patronage system which still dominates it.
Voters only spend a few minutes casting their ballot on election day, and are content to leave everything to the politicians — often to the detriment of the country, Mr Borwornsak said.
One of the draft charter’s highlights is to elevate all Thais to the status of “citizens,” and boost their role in politics, Mr Borwornsak said.
The cabinet has forwarded its recommendations on the draft charter to the CDC, seeking more than 100 amendments.
Among the changes proposed by the cabinet are deleting sections 181 and 182, reviewing 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 in 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. 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.
The NRC panels on political, legal and justice reforms have also come up with more than 330 proposals.
Mr Borwornsak insisted that most of the provisions on reforms and reconciliation will remain in the draft charter, although the CDC will consider how many of the provisions will be trimmed down.
He said the government wanted the draft charter to contain only key principles, and for details on national reform to be included in the new charter’s organic laws.