Senate election rules likely to be used for CDA

Senate election rules likely to be used for CDA

The Nation on Sunday

The meeting of the joint Houses of Parliament yesterday showed signs that it may adopt regulations governing the election of senate members for the election of members to the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) instead of using electoral regulations for MPs.

The move is an attempt to avoid accusations that political parties will unduly interfere in the election of CDA members. The joint meeting also decided to extend the meeting until Tuesday and could hold the third-reading vote on May 11.

Peeraphan Palusuk, Pheu Thai MP for Yasothon province, and deputy chairman of the drafting amendment committee, revealed that there is a high likelihood that Article 291/5 on the regulations for election of CDA members will be changed. This means there will be no early voting and the Election Commission has given its support to the idea after consultations. This, Peeraphan said, will remove the fear that political parties will play a big role in the election.

He admitted, however, that the meeting of the joint Houses has been extended because the same old issues kept coming up in the debate.

The ongoing charter amendment debate, which was scheduled to end yesterday, has been extended after little progress has been achieved, a joint Houses meeting said yesterday.

Of the 15 sub-articles of the controversial Article 291 undergoing vetting, progress was made in only four as of Friday night.

The joint session agreed to continue the debate yesterday but would end early, while today is an off day. On Tuesday, the Senate has another issue to discuss, preventing it from vetting the issue. The joint session agreed that the debate would continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, while no agreement has been reached on whether it should continue on Thursday if the debate was inconclusive. If completed yesterday, it will be put to a vote on May 8.

Udomdej Rattanasatien, government whip, said the marathon six-day meetings had affected the overseas travel schedules of some MPs.

Jurin Laksanawisit, opposition whip, said it is hard to predict how much more time is needed to finish the joint-Houses discussion although Tuesday and Wednesday have been added as part of the extended period for the meeting. Jurin said the meeting could take less time if speakers took less time for their addresses or questioning. He said given the situation, it is hard to predict when voting on the third reading could take place.

Udomdej earmarked May 11 as a possible date for the third-round voting although it was not finalised yet. He insisted that the government is not in a rush and that the time frame for charter amendment is expected to be 14 months. He urged all parties to discuss all details in order to try to iron out differences.

Jurin denied that the Opposition is trying to drag out the meeting to derail the charter amendment. He, however, suggested that the number of CDA members should be adjusted to prevent political interference. Instead of the current plan to have 99 CDA members, with 77 elected and 22 appointed, Jurin said the number of charter drafters should be increased to 150 to 200 as suggested by some MPs and senate members. He said electing just one CDA member per province favours one dominant candidate and the government will have a lot of influence given such a set-up.

The debate of the joint Houses earlier heard opposition MPs and some senators complaining that it is unfair for provinces with large populations such as Bangkok or Chiang Mai to have only one representative in the CDA.

The set-up, once decided, can't be changed and so it is important to have a consensus. Jurin also said the draft charter should be reviewed by Parliament before being put up for a nationwide referendum to ensure that the new charter will be the charter of all people and not just a group.

-- The Nation 2012-04-22