Debate On Thai Constitution Amendments Gets Underway

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Debate on constitution amendments gets underway

By PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK

THE NATION

Opposing sides were sticking to their positions yesterday – the first day of deliberation in Parliament on proposed amendments to the Constitution – as some Senators admitted they had yet to reach a decision.

Opposition Pheu Thai MPs took turns in stressing the "undemocratic" nature and origin of the current junta-sponsored 2007 Constitution. They proposed an amendment that would amount to a revival of the 1997 "people's charter"– a move their opponents said was impractical and that the government's proposed amendments would be enough.

Legal expert Methaphan Photeeraroj – who was allowed by the House Speaker to present the amendment backed by Pheu Thai Party and more than 70,000 signatures – said the 1997 charter should be revived but with adjustments to end the vicious cycle of charters being torn up following coups.

Chart Thai Pattana MP Paradorn Prisna-nantakul told the House a near total revival of the 1997 charter could not be approved by Parliament alone but needed endorsement through a referendum.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, meanwhile, tried to sell his party's version of the proposed amendments by saying he believed the ruling party's proposed amendment would "not cause division and would be for the people", an suggestion dismissed by Pheu Thai MPs outright.

"The [government's] proposed amendments only benefit Abhisit and his men," Pheu Thai MP from Chiang Mai Suraphong Towijakchaikul said. He said the proposed amendment to Article 190 would remove Parliament's power to oversee international treaties – such as one to be signed with Cambodia on border issues, or projects like the high-speed trains which China is expected to sell to Thailand.

Suraphong also denounced the current charter as a product of the military junta, which seized power in 2006. Other members of his party said the second amendment from the ruling party, which will increase the number of party-list MPs while reducing the number of constituency-based MPs, will only benefit coalition partners and new parties like the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)'s New Politics Party.

Pheu Thai chairman Chalerm Yoobamrung called Abhisit's claim "a lie" and said there's no proof that the government will benefit from the two proposed amendments by the government.

Without going into the minutiae of the proposed amendments, Democrat Party MP Chamni Sakdisaet tried to convince some members of the House, especially those who support PAD – which is against any amendments to the charter and has been rallying outside Parliament – that the Constitution is not "religious text".

Chamni lamented it was easier to tear up a charter after a military coup than amend it through Parliament.

Some government MPs, meanwhile, launched an attack on the opposition party's proposed amendment, saying the 1997 charter enabled Thaksin Shinawatra to consolidate power to a point where the checks and balances system no longer functioned.

With no signs of compromise, senators such as Singhchai Tumbthong told the House they had not yet decided which side to support and would closely listen to the debate today.

-- The Nation 2010-11-24