CDC chairman voices final concerns after last meeting of the commission

 

 

BANGKOK, 12 September 2018 (NNT) – The chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has expressed concern over election campaigning via social media, saying some citizens may miss out on crucial information or be misled. 

At the CDC’s final official meeting, members received a book titled “In the Hearts of CDC 2017” as a souvenir of their service. After the discussion however, Chairman Meechai Ruchuphan remarked that the Election Commission (EC) has been empowered by law to regulate the use of social media in election campaigning and implored it to control use of the tool as it can be used to misinform the public or even inflict legal harm. He urged citizens themselves to be wary of sharing online information during the campaign period. 

On the scope of authority wielded by the administration, Meechai said the government will have full authority during the election period as it will not be considered an interim administration. 

In the souvenir book, Meechai details the inner workings of the CDC from the start of the Gen Prayut Chan-ocha government, acknowledging that he suggested Bowornsak Uwanno for the CDC due to his experience in constitution drafting and lamenting that Bowornsak’s drafts were shot down by the National Reform Council, leading to Meechai himself taking on a CDC position. He admitted that while he felt the task was a burden he saw it as his duty to the nation.

 

-- nnt 2018-09-12

20 hours ago, webfact said:

the government will have full authority during the election period as it will not be considered an interim administration.

The Prayut government will not operate as a "caretaker" government as was the case with Yingluck related to the February 2014 election. As such it will be exempt from the typical election campaign restrictions and will have no limits to any conflicts of interests. The EC will have no independent oversight during the electoral process to Prayut's government operations such as committing funding obligations into the term of the next government.

 

Add to this situation Prayut's access to absolute power until a new government has been endorsed, there cannot possibly be any open and fair political playing field.

On 9/12/2018 at 4:14 AM, webfact said:

On the scope of authority wielded by the administration, Meechai said the government will have full authority during the election period as it will not be considered an interim administration. 

They should not be considered an interim government, they should not be considered any form of government, and they never should have been in position for as long as they have but they found a spot they like and they have siphoned off as much from the Thai people as they can for as long as they can without an "election". Now, with "full authority" they are positioning themselves to sink that siphon as deep as possible for a long, long time.