PPRP must stay out of charter study

PPRP must stay out of charter study

Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is a candidate for the chair of a House panel tasked with studying a charter rewrite. (Bangkok Post photo)
Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is a candidate for the chair of a House panel tasked with studying a charter rewrite. (Bangkok Post photo)

The opposition's move to amend the 2017 constitution has gathered steam with the formation of a panel tasked to study the charter rewrite, which is set for House debate later this month.

The Democrat Party, a coalition member in Prayut Chan-o-cha's administration, has taken charge of the process especially since the charter's amendment was one of its campaign policies. In fact, the Democrats insisted on a rewrite before joining the Palang Pracharath Party-led (PPRP) coalition.

The Democrats share the same stance as the opposition bloc in believing that the military-sponsored charter contains many flaws with several clauses being undemocratic in that they allow Gen Prayut's regime to keep its grip on power.

As the Democrats side with the opposition, the PPRP -- while disagreeing with the change -- came up with its own charter amendment revision in order not to miss the bandwagon. This was done to prevent the Democrats, which nominated former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as head of the new panel, and the seven opposition parties from gaining political momentum as well as control of the amendment process. If that were to happen, the PPRP would miss its chance to have a voice.

Even though the launch of the amendment process is a long way off, the PPRP is obviously worried about the move and it wants to be a part of the process. This is why Gen Prayut plans to field deputy House speaker Suchart Tancharoen for the job.

Currently, the spotlight is on Mr Abhisit, who is qualified for the job. While leading the party during the election campaign, he showed his clear stance in pushing for amendments, without which in his opinion will hinder the nation's bid to democratise. He even took a break from politics to "show his spirit" after suffering defeat in the polls.

Mr Abhisit's "comeback" thanks to support from the party is proving to be the right move at the right time. With his credentials, the politician can bring back glory to the political party.

It is the right job for Mr Abhisit given his clear stance on this problematic charter. As former prime minister, Mr Abhisit is well-acquainted with the country's socio-political structure -- useful knowledge to have for this process.

Moreover, the veteran politician is perceived to be a neutral person who is not extremely close to the PPRP nor the opposition bloc. Indeed, he appears to be the right choice who could win backing from differing parties or factions.

It's the right move at the right time because after being in use for some time, problems which have derived from this military-sponsored charter have become evident. There is no doubt that changes are inevitable.

Some may ask whether it's possible for Mr Abhisit to gain enough support to become chair of the House panel. For me, it would be a smooth process if the PPRP lends him its support. However, since it does not and has instead chosen to field a competitor to vie for the same position, we are about to witness an internal fight in the coalition.

So to speak, the PPRP is not appropriate for this task because as we know, it is the party that gets the most benefits from the flawed charter. Lest we forget, it's the Democrats that managed to force Gen Prayut to accept the charter amendment process as part of the government's 12 priorities after the coalition was formed. With regards to this, the PPRP should step aside and allow the Democrats, a coalition partner, to pursue the matter.

If we look closely, we see that the Democrats have an advantage with its choice of candidate as the position will be voted on by a 49-member panel of which 18 will be from the coalition, 19 from the opposition, while another 12 will be the cabinet's quota.

Under such a structure, Mr Abhisit should win all of the votes from the opposition bloc and also some from the coalition, especially those from Bhumjaithai as it is known that the two became close allies during the negotiations for cabinet seats with the PPRP. Therefore, Mr Abhisit should get eight votes from the Bhumjaithai and Democrats and the entire 19 from the opposition bloc which altogether forms the majority.

The two coalition partners have already had a success using a similar tactic during the choosing of House speaker. With support from Bhumjaithai, the Democrats managed to secure the seat for Chuan Leekpai, while Mr Suchart who was the PPRP's choice, came second as deputy House speaker.

For those who question why there must be a tough fight for such a position that has no real power, not to mention that the amendment process is still far away, it should reiterated that the House panel chair can set the direction of the charter amendment process and push the Prayut government to set the issue as national agenda. More importantly, the chair will enjoy hefty media coverage.

We should not forget that the charter drafters, led by legal guru Meechai Ruchupan, intentionally made it difficult -- if not almost impossible -- to amend the charter. It requires no less than 50% of approval from the two Houses or a minimum of 376 votes. Of the total approval, one-third must be from the senate or at least 84.

Under such circumstances, those involved must engage with the people and force the government and the senate to play along, following the model of the drafting process of the 1997 constitution, which was dubbed as the people's charter that gained broad public support.

If the PPRP is wise, and I hope it is, it should withdraw from the race for House panel chair and leave the matter in the hands of parliament. This will ensure that political pressure against the government is eased while each faction explores options for changing the charter.

There is no reason for the PPRP to be fearful as the party still has a political advantage over its rivals given support from the Senate, a key force behind the change, before the amendments begin.

Chairith Yonpiam

Assistant news editor

Chairith Yonpiam is assistant news editor, Bangkok Post.

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