Coalition Whips To Seek Charter Change: Thailand

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Coalition whips to seek charter change

THE NATION

Coalition whips agreed yesterday to seek an amendment to Article 291 of the Constitution soon to make way for the establishment of a new constitution drafting committee, chief whip Udomdej Rattanasathien said.

However, he told another press conference later in the day that it was not a resolution by the coalition whips, it was just an agreement.

Udomdej, an MP from the ruling Pheu Thai Party, said he expected the motion for amendment to be submitted during the current parliamentary session, possibly some time next month.

The current parliamentary session started yesterday and will last four months.

"It will depend on the constitution drafting committee when the amendment draft will be completed. We will give them a free hand in drafting the amendment," Udomdej said.

"The government will not get involved in the matter. The constitution drafting committee will set a time frame for completing their task, and the government will not interfere," he added.

Regarding possible protests against a constitutional amendment, Udomdej said the charter change would be for the better and not for the worse. He added that it would depend on the constitution drafting committee which provisions in the charter should be amended and how they would be amended.

According to Udomdej, the ruling coalition is going ahead with a plan to amend the charter after many voters reminded government MPs about their parties' election promise of amending the Constitution.

Senior Pheu Thai MP Apiwan Wiriyachai yesterday dismissed reports of a disagreement among party MPs at their meeting on Tuesday on the plan to amend the Constitution. He said some participants at the meeting had different views. For example, he and Pheu Thai heavyweight Chalerm Yoobamrung thought there should be a public hearing and referendum before any constitutional amendment while fellow Pheu Thai MP and red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua saw no need for a public hearing.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm said yesterday that it was too early for a constitutional amendment, adding that there were more urgent issues for the four-month-old government to address first.

"Constitutional amendment is not an urgent issue. There are four important problems that the government has to tackle urgently - drugs, economic problems, websites insulting the monarchy, and corruption," Chalerm said.

He pointed out that during the elections, the ruling party promised it would amend the Constitution within a year but it has been in office for only four months.

"If the [ruling] party fares well on the four urgent issues, people will have confidence [in the government]. Then we can shift to other issues," Chalerm said.

Opposition Democrat MP Sathit Pitutecha yesterday agreed that it was too early for a charter change, saying that the move to amend the Constitution at this time could lead to more social conflict.

He also noted that there was suspicion that the ruling party's latest move to seek a constitutional amendment was being done to help former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - who is considered Pheu Thai's de-facto leader - to escape legal problems.

The Democrat also said that he viewed the plan to set up a constitutional drafting committee as an attempt to create legitimacy for a constitutional amendment as well as to reduce opposition against the move.

Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is also Democrat Party chief, said yesterday that the public should try to find out whether the government's allies would be appointed to the constitution drafting committee and what was the real purpose of the constitutional amendment.

"If the focus is on amending Article 309 to allow amnesty, there will be more confusion," Abhisit warned.

Election Commissioner Sodsri Satayathum yesterday said she did not think there would be strong opposition to a constitutional amendment if the change was in the public's interest and not for personal benefit.

She noted that during the tenure of the previous government led by Abhisit, there was a constitutional amendment to replace the electoral system of multi-MP constituencies with a single-MP constituency system, and there was no opposition to the change.

The opposition and critics expressed suspicion that the ruling party was likely to amend the Constitution to ensure amnesty for Thaksin. Chalerm recently talked about a plan for a charter change to provide universal amnesty to all parties involved in the country's political conflict.

-- The Nation 2011-12-22