Meechai seeks advice to fight graft

Meechai seeks advice to fight graft

Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan is seeking advice from state agencies on anti-graft measures, with the possibility of setting up a new body to tackle the problem.

Mr Meechai said on Thursday corruption was a priority issue as it was rampant.

He hopes to discuss issues including corruption at the policy-making level and in elections with various state agencies next week.

"I want to hear from those agencies about corruption problems and discuss whether we have to establish a new agency to prevent the problem," Mr Meechai said.

The authorities currently involved in tackling graft include the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission.

At a CDC meeting on Thursday on corruption in politics, Mr Meechai suggested stricter criteria be imposed on election candidates to screen out those with records of wrongdoing, said CDC spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni.

One idea was to ask the Election Commission to announce the "bad records" of candidates to the public, alongside their qualifications and achievements, Mr Norachit said.

The CDC chairman said he would pursue "two or three choices" while his team works on the draft charter.

The new 21 members of the CDC have 180 days to finish the draft, following their appointment on Monday after the now-defunct National Reform Council last month rejected the earlier draft prepared by the Borwornsak Uwanno committee.

Meanwhile, former Democrat Party MP Kasit Piromya, who has been appointed as a member of the National Reform Steering Assembly, said he plans to look at previous reform proposals to find ideas that will benefit the assembly, which was set up to continue work on national reforms.

The proposals include those by panels led by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun and scholar Prawase Wasi during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration, he said.

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