Temporary elected 'People's Parliament' proposed: Thailand

[webfact]

Temporary elected 'People's Parliament' proposed
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A temporary "People's Parliament" should be established to bypass the country's political deadlock, a noted academic proposed while participating in a seminar panel yesterday.

Charas Suwanmala, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's political science faculty, said it was unlikely that the February 2 election would be completed, or that the House of Representatives would have enough MPs to be opened.

Not having a sitting House or a government that can fully function would put the country at a great disadvantage, he said, so the People's Parliament should be formed on a temporary basis to solve urgent problems facing the country, Charas said.

Unlike the proposal by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) to establish an appointed council, members of the People's Parliament would be elected, Charas said.

Former Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot expressed confidence that the political crisis could be solved through talks and by establishing a reform panel comprising members of both political camps. He urged the military and independent agencies to carry out their duties in a neutral manner.

Aumnuay Khlangpha, a Pheu Thai Party Lop Buri MP candidate and former chief government whip, said the political impasse could be solved through negotiations among Pheu Thai, the Democrats and the PDRC. He added that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was ready to sit at the negotiation table, but not to debate on television.

-- The Nation 2014-03-07

[djhotsox]

It's taken how many months for someone to come up with this?

Did they think that this "political impasse" could be solved any other way?

Proper negotiations between all parties and all people involved is the ONLY way this country is going to properly reform. Was that a secret?

[chainarong]

With the impasse between the interested ( Waring ) party's, the unlikely elections dragging on , the results of any election, causing further protests, the idea of a people's parliament would be to manage the reform process and stabilize the country , as the players in the present political circus cannot be trusted, I don't think Thailand could do with another watered down Thai Democracy, this parliament could be lead by General Prayuth, the temporary part is the stumbling block, as the reforms would take at least two years.

[jcb2001]

PDRC and Pheu Thai talk?

[thesetat2013]

The only way for this gov to proceed is to break up the PTP and Dem parties and ban all members from politics. Start new with decent law abiding citizens who reallly want to help the people and dont want the position for its power and easy access to enlarge bank accounts. Too bad this will never happen

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[OMGImInPattaya]

It already exists...it's called Parliament.

[millwall_fan]

This is a possible solution, as long as political parties are allowed to participate and normal election rules apply

[binjalin]

but what's the difference? ok a germ of an idea but how to stop those being elected not forming along party lines?

[noitom]

"A people's parliament." How clever - this gets around the people's council very clearly. Wow, these Thai academics are really astute. It's no wonder that they are lecturing at the university level at a top Thai university.

[Thailand]

Or, the academics / lawmakers could come up with an acceptable reason to null and void the recent elections that were completely disrupted, can't be difficult can it?

Offer all parties the opportunity to participate in a new one without disruption and use the novel idea of letting the people decide?

[ManofReason]

It's taken how many months for someone to come up with this?

Did they think that this "political impasse" could be solved any other way?

Proper negotiations between all parties and all people involved is the ONLY way this country is going to properly reform. Was that a secret?

The only solution is for the one side that continues to break the law and deny the outcome of legitimate elections to cease and desist with their crimes, and respect the will of the people.

[Publicus]

The "People's Parliament" would be elected from where, and how many, with what powers and for how long?

Would the DP participate in elections, which is not their strong point.

This sounds like a Thai academic idea, ie, two wrongs make a right and five wrongs make it even more right.

[binjalin]

Or, the academics / lawmakers could come up with an acceptable reason to null and void the recent elections that were completely disrupted, can't be difficult can it?

Offer all parties the opportunity to participate in a new one without disruption and use the novel idea of letting the people decide?

I actually think this - it might sound simple and it is

have a month of public debate about reform - strictly clamp down on ANY disruption on either side - parties put their proposals

get Police and Army to protect elections and let people decide with promise of whoever wins get's to do the job... in peace protected by law

[bushwacker]

If I am reading this correctly, the scholars are recommending that an election of temporary leaders made up of members from both sides would be a good and easy solution as a real election (which has a 5 year mandate ... guess to a Thai, 5 years is permanent and not temporary), based on the rule of law is not possible!

I am not Thai, so I do not know ... just trying to understand.

Guess I just wasted another 5 minutes of my life, that I will never get back!

[ShannonT]

Elected by who?

And why can the election of a people's parliament be completed but not a normal election?

[moonao]

Proposed by who? Just another random yellow shirt. And why is this even news worthy?

These " journalists" are controlling how we think. Wake up people

Edited March 7, 2014 by moonao

[geovalin]

It already exists...it's called Parliament.

You are obviously right and I'm horrified to see that no one (in the meeting or in TV, but us) realized that.

No need more debate or new law. Just ask the people what they want.

Not sure that Taksin Side would win. It deserves a poll. Dem's CAN WIN.

UNLESS...

Dem's are not afraid to lose => they just don't want to be elected by poor persons => maybe they prefer to be nominated by powerful friends => thus they'll not be obliged to care about the population but care about the powerful friends.

[toybits]

I wonder if this lecturer is partially responsible for the other thread shown below? Education Official: 580,000 Thais aged over 15 years are completely illiterate...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/709140-education-official-580000-thais-aged-over-15-years-are-completely-illiterate/

Edited March 7, 2014 by toybits

[Fryslan boppe]

"A temporary "People's Parliament" should be established to bypass the country's political deadlock, a noted academic proposed while participating in a seminar panel yesterday.

Charas Suwanmala, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's political science faculty, said..."

Another attempt by unelectables using so-called academics to validate themselves.

What political deadlock?.....Coup-mongers do not political deadlock make....Elections take care of any political deadlock when majorities are selected.

Should there be an even 50-50 split amongst the electorate, then we can speak of 'Political deadlock"...Take Ukraine for example, with their dead-even 50-50 split with a linguistic and cultural divide in the country...One can be thankful such a 'deadlock does not exist in Thailand. One can also be thankful that Thailand's system is not frought with deadlocked congressional circumstances of the USA.... Canada, Australia, Britain and Thailand have a system whereby an electoral majority can act on its' mandate. Unelectables call that a "Parliamentary dictatorship", but one wouldn't expect anything else from them.

All these alternatives to an "electoral Democracy" promoted in this article, just aren't going to fly....Why do they keep coming up with this stuff. Everyone knows their motivation is due to being electorally challenged.

Using a Chulalongkorn University guy adds to the lack of credibility.

UDD/RS's tell me Chulalongkorn University is the nerve center for the street coup-mongers..The location of their so-called 'war room", plus providing material and comfort support to the protesters, using that Universities considerable resources.

So quoting a Poly. Sci. guy from there, is ridiculous.....Sometimes I wonder how smart they are.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Fryslan boppe

[focus27]

There is a very quick and simple solution: amend section 93 of the constitution.

Section 93 is quite long but in the last paragraph it states the 95% rule for convening the House. This one paragraph is the source of all the Suthepista power.

But that 95% rule is not needed for the House to function because any voting requires a quorum of just 50%. Keeping in place the voting quorum but removing the 95% rule will completely undermine the Suthepistas undermining democracy. It can easily be done with a royal decree and could be done on a temporary basis with a provision to look at that section in the next session. Of course, it would also require the consent of the Constitutional Court.

And, of course, it won't happen. Would scare the sh!t out of the Dems though.

BTW, did a quick search to see if other countries have fallen into the same quicksand, and found... Lebanon. Last year parliament could not convene as it was not quorate, but for slightly different reasons; it wasn't because of a lack of MPs but because the opposition MPs boycotted the opening session, hence rendering it non-quorate. They had a caretaker government for months but all other legislative business could go on as normal - they just couldn't vote on new legislation. Rather shows that the most important function of parliament is in voting for new legislation, not just warming all the seats.

BTW2, Lebanon has still not convened its parliament after 9 months.

BTW3, Note that at least Lebanon's quorum rules are logical, in that the quorum to convene is the same as that for a valid vote: a simple majority of seats.

BTW4, "The pro-Syrian, pro-Iranian opposition is playing constitutional acrobatics to prevent the elections from taking place since they do not control the necessary votes in parliament to impose yet another Syrian stooge as Lebanon’s president. If they can’t impose a Syrian crony, they would try to create a power vacuum by preventing the elections altogether." [http://www.licus.org/MR/041007%20-%20FAQLebElections.htm] Sound familiar?

[rickirs]

Wouldn't an election of a "People's Parliament" be unconstitutional? Wouldn't the Constitution have to be amended and any effort to do so would also be held unconstitutional? This idea is no different from Suthep's unelected "People's Committee."

[rickirs]

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This is a possible solution, as long as political parties are allowed to participate and normal election rules apply

If "normal election rules" apply, then Suthep will boycott the election. Unless he has a distinct and guaranteed advantage to win the election, he will once again disrupt and blockade the elections. And Thailand will continue for another year to operate with only an interim government.

[Thai at Heart]

Wouldn't an election of a "People's Parliament" be unconstitutional? Wouldn't the Constitution have to be amended and any effort to do so would also be held unconstitutional? This idea is no different from Suthep's unelected "People's Committee."

Oh quiet u. We ask know Thais love to take the supposedly crafty short cut instead of following the rules.

That's how they got to this point in the first place.

[HUAHIN62]

There is a very quick and simple solution: amend section 93 of the constitution.

Section 93 is quite long but in the last paragraph it states the 95% rule for convening the House. This one paragraph is the source of all the Suthepista power.

But that 95% rule is not needed for the House to function because any voting requires a quorum of just 50%. Keeping in place the voting quorum but removing the 95% rule will completely undermine the Suthepistas undermining democracy. It can easily be done with a royal decree and could be done on a temporary basis with a provision to look at that section in the next session. Of course, it would also require the consent of the Constitutional Court.

And, of course, it won't happen. Would scare the sh!t out of the Dems though.

BTW, did a quick search to see if other countries have fallen into the same quicksand, and found... Lebanon. Last year parliament could not convene as it was not quorate, but for slightly different reasons; it wasn't because of a lack of MPs but because the opposition MPs boycotted the opening session, hence rendering it non-quorate. They had a caretaker government for months but all other legislative business could go on as normal - they just couldn't vote on new legislation. Rather shows that the most important function of parliament is in voting for new legislation, not just warming all the seats.

BTW2, Lebanon has still not convened its parliament after 9 months.

BTW3, Note that at least Lebanon's quorum rules are logical, in that the quorum to convene is the same as that for a valid vote: a simple majority of seats.

BTW4, "The pro-Syrian, pro-Iranian opposition is playing constitutional acrobatics to prevent the elections from taking place since they do not control the necessary votes in parliament to impose yet another Syrian stooge as Lebanon’s president. If they can’t impose a Syrian crony, they would try to create a power vacuum by preventing the elections altogether." [http://www.licus.org/MR/041007%20-%20FAQLebElections.htm] Sound familiar?

Who wrote this constitution?

[falangadang]

Peoples Parliament,... isn't this what Suthep has been pushing for these last few months?

[The Deerhunter]

Wouldn't an election of a "People's Parliament" be unconstitutional? Wouldn't the Constitution have to be amended and any effort to do so would also be held unconstitutional? This idea is no different from Suthep's unelected "People's Committee."

IMO it is an election again with all those inherent problems. What would make this academic's election any different from any normal election?. What if one side didn't like where it thought it was going (and I'm not suggesting any side in particular) and boycotted it? Full circle? Back to where we are now?

[Baerboxer]

It's taken how many months for someone to come up with this?

Did they think that this "political impasse" could be solved any other way?

Proper negotiations between all parties and all people involved is the ONLY way this country is going to properly reform. Was that a secret?

The only solution is for the one side that continues to break the law and deny the outcome of legitimate elections to cease and desist with their crimes, and respect the will of the people.

And for one side to stop pretending they can "do what we want and be above the law", Maybe they should start respecting the law and answer questions on where they have acted illegally, and open the books up in the interests of transparent democracy.

[casualbiker]

The only solution is for the one side that continues to break the law and deny the outcome of legitimate elections to cease and desist with their crimes, and respect the will of the people.

The only solution is for the one side that continues to break the law! So that's Phua Thai then!

The only solution is for the one side that deny the outcome of legitimate elections ! That's PDRC then!

, and respect the will of the people. That's both of them then PDRC and Phua Thai that don't, So 100% correct BOTH sides need to start talking and respecting the Thai people

Edited March 7, 2014 by casualbiker

[soalbundy]

instead of holding an election for a peoples parliament why not hold a normal election........oh! too simple

[xminator]

Never mind that this is unconstitutional, and should if we follow the last days logic put the proposer on fast track to court.