A National Legislative Assembly (NLA) committee scrutinising the charter's organic law on the Election Commission (EC) will today look to settle controversy over a new proposal to reduce the EC's power, which is likely to pit the bill against the 2017 constitution.
Some members of the NLA committee disagree with the charter's Section 224, which empowers any member of the EC to abolish elections and order re-elections if irregularities are found, without the need to ask for a joint resolution from the seven-member EC, a source told the Bangkok Post yesterday.
The proponents are worried the legal empowerment is "too advanced" and may lead to problems in the future, the source said.
They are considering making a change to the bill by having the election watchdog jointly decide on these election issues, which would also help avoid a concentration of power in too few hands.
However, this has drawn concerns from other members of the NLA committee who say the proposal is putting the organic law at risk of breaking the constitution.
"The change can breach the intention of the charter and even turn the whole bill against the charter," the source said.
The NLA committee, which has asked for an additional scrutiny period of five days, plans to settle the disagreement today as the deadline to enact the law draws near.
The lawmakers are deliberating two organic laws on the EC and political parties and have until June 16 to do so.
The schedule requires them to pass the laws within 60 days after receiving the drafts from the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC).
The Meechai Ruchupan-led committee had agreed to give more power to the EC and endorse it in the new charter, dubbed the anti-cheating edition, because it wanted to see the EC take swift action against election fraud, which have plagued Thai democracy.