Thai Charter review: Legality of amendment questioned

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CHARTER REVIEW
Legality of amendment questioned
OLAN LERTRUDTANADUMRONGKUL,
ANUPHAN CHANTANA
THE NATION

Spirit of charter would be violated if senators ousted early : expert

BANGKOK: -- The termination of appointed senators before the end of their term would be against the will of the Constitution, Senator Anurak Niyamaveja said yesterday.

Parliament on Wednesday night passed the second reading of the constitutional amendment that, if it becomes effective, would put appointed senators out of their posts once new senators are elected.

Anurak, a legal expert, said he also believed the amended law - which resulted from politicians' attempts to gain access to power quickly and to dominate groups that examine the government - would contain conflicting clauses as well as change the structure of the Senate.

Although he would not join in filing a complaint, he believed many people would petition the Constitutional Court on such issues.

The House-Senate joint session on Wednesday night passed the second reading of the charter amendment related to senators' election and qualification.

According to the amended law, all current senators will be out of office once new senators are elected.

Article 12 of the charter amendment bill, which allows appointed senators who are still working when the amended law takes effect to continue in office until the end of their term, was scrapped on a vote of 333-1. Twenty-six lawmakers abstained.

The removed article also said the current elected senators would be out of their posts once the new senators were elected.

The amendment bill changes the structure of the Senate from comprising 150 elected and appointed senators to a total of 200 elected senators.

Currently, there are 73 appointed senators.

The final article of the charter amendment bill, Article 13 - the provision saying the first Senate after the charter change would comprise both elected and remaining appointed senators - was then removed, with 337-35 votes, and 10 abstentions.

"A national referendum should be held before the decision on Article 12, as the current Senate [resulted] from the 2007 Constitution, which passed a national referendum," Anurak said.

Appointed Senator Kamnoon Sidhisamarn, one of the 40 Senators Group, said appointed senators were not surprised by the scrapping of these articles.

The provision written earlier to allow the remaining appointed senators to work until the end of their term was just an attempt to reduce resistance from the senators, he said.

"It's more of a pity that the five-year ban [on former MPs or members of a political party as Senate candidates] and the ban on politicians' relatives were lifted.

"I believe that among 200 elected senators, 70-80 per cent will be linked to political parties either with the government or the opposition side and [their supporters] will be based on the political parties' vote bases. Only the remaining 30 per cent would really come from the people.

"When [the new senators] vote on legal issues, I believe they would take the side benefiting politicians," Kamnoon said.

Kamnoon's group and the opposition Democrat Party have said they would petition the Constitutional Court saying the charter change would change the structure of the Senate and affect the mandate in and effectiveness of the checks-and-balance system.

Udomdej Rattanasatien, adviser to government whips, said the government MPs were not confident in the independent organisations but still had a 50-50 hope that the Constitutional Court would rule that the charter amendment was constitutional.

Meanwhile, government chief whip Aumnuay Khlangpha said yesterday that he had proposed to House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont that the Bt2-trillion loan bill be put forward for second-reading deliberation on September 19 and 20 and that the government's achievement declaration to the Parliament be put on the agenda for September 25.

The joint session spent 12 days deliberating the second reading.


-- The Nation 2013-09-13

[Mampara]

The longer we keep them in service the more the corruption and the less the chances of true reconciliation. Every constitution has a loop hole (the red shirts found one to try and bring their leader home) Just look for it.

[drdoom6996]

With this group of thugs, does it really matter if it's legal or not?