Keep charter on backburner

EDITORIAL

Published: 10 Jan 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

'Poison tree, poison fruit". That was the reason used by the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its supporters, including the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), to justify their attempt to have the current constitution, deemed as a legacy of the 2006 coup makers, completely rewritten or to have just some of the sections amended depending on the mood of the public toward either of the two options.

While the public mood has yet to be gauged in a planned referendum and various public forums, the government has played safe and is treading the treacherous path cautiously and slowly _ to the chagrin of some hothead party members and red-shirt leaders.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently made clear that the charter rewrite or change process was not a top priority of her government and the process could drag on until next year. That is indeed a wise move because the issue is politically explosive and could destabilise her administration. So why stoke the fire?

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brilliant
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Discussion 6 : 10 Jan 2013 at 20.596
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facts_only - "What increase?"

From the same guy regarding rice sales that kept saying "What decrease?"
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felixqui
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Discussion 5 : 10 Jan 2013 at 18.055
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Although perhaps not the ones the current govt. wants to amend, there are numerous serious defects that make the current (and all former) Thai constitution unjust and in urgent need of amendment to make if fit for a democratic society and a healthy body politic.

First, the pervasive use of such phrases as "public morality". This vague term serves only ever to provide a legal excuse for injustice.

Second, the conspicuous failure to protect free speech has always undermined democracy in Thailand, and continues to do so.

3rd - As the product of a coup, it includes provisions to exlicitly exonerate those individuals.

4th - ...
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TryAgain
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Discussion 4 : 10 Jan 2013 at 17.364
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Discussion 3
The checks and balances on the independent agencies are the Courts. If you take away their power to bring cases before the courts, then you might as well just abolish them and go back to being an absolute dictatorship.

Discussion 2
The current administration has been moving much of the old debt around to hide it so that they could introduce a lot of new debt while keeping the illusion of no big change in Debt level. This will only last for a short period of time, as you can not continue to spend money you don't have. Look at Europe, American and dozens of other countries, and you can see where Thailand is heading.
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boontong
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Discussion 3 : 10 Jan 2013 at 13.363
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All the 'independent agencies' and the system of appointing senators needs review. At the moment, there is no 'check and balance' on these agencies. It is opened to intimidation, interference, by people who are not politicians but want to operate outside of the 'rule of law' and 'constitution'. It is not the issue of 'too much power' but justice.
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facts_only
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Discussion 2 : 10 Jan 2013 at 10.142
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"Then there is the increased public debt problem..."
Thailands public debt, as a % of GDP:
2007, 38%
2008, 37%
2009, 45%
2010, 44%
2011, 43%
2012, 44%

What increase?
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highlander
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Discussion 1 : 10 Jan 2013 at 08.021
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The charter was changed already to ensure politicians have minimum opportunities to prolong their corrupt activities. The charter is designed to snare them so they can be effectively punished by law and rightly so. They now want to change the charter to dismantle the snares so they can freely engage in corrupt activities without having to be worried about being arrested on corrupt charges. Great to be in power and change the system to suit the needs of our corrupt politicians! A good example would be to send them when caught to prison for minimum 10 years. After spending that time in prison they should not be allowed to become MP's ever.
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Keep charter on backburner | Bangkok Post: opinion