NRC panel sticks to its proposal for directly elected Thai PM and Cabinet

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NRC panel sticks to its proposal for directly elected PM and Cabinet
KRIS BHROMSUTHI
Khanittha Thepphajorn
THE NATION


Borwornsak

BANGKOK: -- The National Reform Council panel on political reform yesterday reached a consensus on the direct election of the prime minister and the cabinet, election of MPs from large constituencies and election/selection of senators.

Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, chairman of the panel, said the proposal includes the direct election of all 350 members of the lower house from multi-seat constituencies.

Of the 154 members of the upper chamber, 77 will be elected by provincial constituencies and 77 representatives will come from various professional associations. The panel stood firm in its proposal despite signs of disapproval from some charter drafters, academics and politicians, including Deputy Prime Minister Borwornsak Uwanno, who is also president of the charter drafters.

Also, not all NRC panel members agreed with the proposal. Some panel members, including Prasarn Marukpitak, Chai Chidchob and Chuchai Supa-wongse, said they reserved their right to express their opinions. They will debate the issue during the NRC meeting next week.

The panel for political reform had revealed its conclusion at the end of last month, favouring directly elected ministers. It drew support and criticism from various individuals and organisations from all sections of society.

Sombat cited a recent poll that showed 72 per cent supported direct election of the cabinet and 66 per cent direct election of the PM. People's opinions should be placed at the centre of the reform agenda, he said.

Thienchay Kiranan, president of the NRC, eased concerns on the issue of direct election of the PM, saying the proposal was "just an idea" and not final to be written into the new constitution. He said he appreciated and welcomed all opinions from the reformers.

Borwornsak urged the public not to overreact to the reform proposals that was being floated by members of the NRC because it was still "inconclusive".

Any proposal would have to be approved by the "Five Rivers" institutions - the Cabinet, National Legislative Assembly (NLA), National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), NRC and the charter drafters - to be weaved into the new constitution.

Members of NRC panels for various reform areas are coming out with their reform proposals, which is normal because the reform process initiated by the interim charter emphasised an "open process" where all opinions are welcomed, he said.

People should not panic because they are merely reform "proposals" rather than "conclusions".

The final proposals for the new constitution would become clear in July 2015 when the CDC is scheduled to submit the draft constitution to the NRC for approval.

Borwornsak compared drafting a constitution to cooking a "hot and sour" Thai soup, as reformers and charter drafters are debating which recipe is the most delicious. The final recipe would be decided next year on August 6 if the NRC approves the draft charter submitted by the CDC. NRC members are set to debate proposals that will be submitted to the CDC next week from Monday to Wednesday. The debate will also be attended by CDC members.

Once an agreement is reached by the NRC, its reform proposal would be submitted to charter drafters from December 18-26, when CDC members will collect proposals from other institutions - including the NLA, the NCPO and the Cabinet - before examining and deciding what will be incorporated in the new constitution.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NRC-panel-sticks-to-its-proposal-for-directly-elec-30249422.html


-- The Nation 2014-12-09

[Mango Bob]

So if the PM is not please with the work of one of his Ministers he can do nothing about it? But then again it's not one of his Ministers is it. Who has the right to remove a Minister from office? Seems like elections every 6 months or less. They need to give more details whoever came up with the stupid idea.

[Robby nz]

Got it pretty much right, only thing I don't agree with is a directly elected PM, let parliament elect a PM or the country can end up in a situation like the US where the PM (president in their case) is at odds with the party in power.

Do away with the party list, great, but the parties wont like that, they wont be able to get the unelectable ones they owe favors to in to bludge of the country.

Elected cabinet ministers from a list of people experienced and qualified for each portfolio who must submit a CV and policies for the ministries the apply for, party affiliation not needed or even desirable. Will prevent a mob of useless deadwood being given jobs for the boys as we have seen in the recent past.

However there should be some provision for something like say 'mid term appraisal' of cabinet ministers, like a school report on how well they have done their job.

[ColdSingha]

who draws up the list of candidates then?

(this is sounding a lot like communism to me..)

[Robby nz]

So if the PM is not please with the work of one of his Ministers he can do nothing about it? But then again it's not one of his Ministers is it. Who has the right to remove a Minister from office? Seems like elections every 6 months or less. They need to give more details whoever came up with the stupid idea.

Yea why not just have cabinet reshuffles instead, maybe every 3 months like the last administration. Then the best (unqualified) man for the job can each have their turn at licking the cream off the top.

[Reigntax]

So 77 or half or all senators are nominated positions. So who selects those for the nominated positions?

If this is democratic reform and allowing the Thai people to have their say who represents them, the word 'democratic' has obviously been mistranslated.

It is clear that the General and his associates want to control Thai politics but pretend they are allowing people to have a say.

Suthep will be so proud the general is following his plan and instructions to the letter!

[Robby nz]

who draws up the list of candidates then?

(this is sounding a lot like communism to me..)

No one draws up a list, applications are called for from qualified people and after their qualifications are checked for the ministry they have applied for a list is put on a ballot.

Much like any other job application accept the people get to decide who is best for the job rather than the boss of a company.

[englishoak]

This will be funny to watch unfold

[Robby nz]

So 77 or half or all senators are nominated positions. So who selects those for the nominated positions?

If this is democratic reform and allowing the Thai people to have their say who represents them, the word 'democratic' has obviously been mistranslated.

It is clear that the General and his associates want to control Thai politics but pretend they are allowing people to have a say.

Suthep will be so proud the general is following his plan and instructions to the letter!

6 posts and we have a but Suthep fool.

The senate composition is the same as it was previously, no change, they are selected the way the were before.

If you really want to know go check it out.

[Reigntax]

So 77 or half or all senators are nominated positions. So who selects those for the nominated positions?

If this is democratic reform and allowing the Thai people to have their say who represents them, the word 'democratic' has obviously been mistranslated.

It is clear that the General and his associates want to control Thai politics but pretend they are allowing people to have a say.

Suthep will be so proud the general is following his plan and instructions to the letter!

6 posts and we have a but Suthep fool.

The senate composition is the same as it was previously, no change, they are selected the way the were before.

If you really want to know go check it out.

No Robbie, I think you've spent too much time up the rear end of a ewe to be able to see fact from fiction. But hey you have an excuse, you re from NZ!

As for a Suthep fool, is he anything but, or in your case butt!

[Mango Bob]

The election of half the Senate and the other half selected by the elite is not a fair system. Only if all are elected by the people will the system be fair. The but elite does not trust the people.

[Reigntax]

The election of half the Senate and the other half selected by the elite is not a fair system. Only if all are elected by the people will the system be fair. The but elite does not trust the people.

Exactly. Unless of course you want half a democracy.

The previous Constitution was drawn up by the last Military Coup and democrats with the sole purpose of maintaining control. They failed and they still don't understand why. They will fail again.

What they don't realise is that the vast majority of people won't stand for their rights being taken away. Rather than let an elected government fail in their policies and suffer at the polls as a result, they kick out the government and not allow the democratic system to develop.

You would think after 18 or so attempts they would learn by mistakes but as they say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

[ColdSingha]

The election of half the Senate and the other half selected by the elite is not a fair system. Only if all are elected by the people will the system be fair. The but elite does not trust the people.

the people will be allowed to vote when they want to vote for the right team again

[Robby nz]

So 77 or half or all senators are nominated positions. So who selects those for the nominated positions?

If this is democratic reform and allowing the Thai people to have their say who represents them, the word 'democratic' has obviously been mistranslated.

It is clear that the General and his associates want to control Thai politics but pretend they are allowing people to have a say.

Suthep will be so proud the general is following his plan and instructions to the letter!

6 posts and we have a but Suthep fool.

The senate composition is the same as it was previously, no change, they are selected the way the were before.

If you really want to know go check it out.

No Robbie, I think you've spent too much time up the rear end of a ewe to be able to see fact from fiction. But hey you have an excuse, you re from NZ!

As for a Suthep fool, is he anything but, or in your case butt!

If you have no answer pick on the messenger.

Did you bother to go and check on the previous composition of the senate and how the appointed ones were selected ?

No thought not.

[binjalin]

it's absurd... let's vote for the transport minister? and the PM? and if they don't get on? nothing can be done to next election??? chaos!

[Reigntax]

So 77 or half or all senators are nominated positions. So who selects those for the nominated positions?

If this is democratic reform and allowing the Thai people to have their say who represents them, the word 'democratic' has obviously been mistranslated.

It is clear that the General and his associates want to control Thai politics but pretend they are allowing people to have a say.

Suthep will be so proud the general is following his plan and instructions to the letter!

6 posts and we have a but Suthep fool.

The senate composition is the same as it was previously, no change, they are selected the way the were before.

If you really want to know go check it out.

No Robbie, I think you've spent too much time up the rear end of a ewe to be able to see fact from fiction. But hey you have an excuse, you re from NZ!

As for a Suthep fool, is he anything but, or in your case butt!

If you have no answer pick on the messenger.

Did you bother to go and check on the previous composition of the senate and how the appointed ones were selected ?

No thought not.

Because something was done before does not make it right. In fact the same people who wrote the Constitution were the ones who repealed it. Obviously it was not sufficiently rigged to get the result they required.

Unfortunately, military personal were not created by the quickest sperm in the batch, sometimes even Darwinism fails a generation.

The problem for the military is that they have a very low opinion of the intellegence of their own people which must be based on using their own intellegence as the yardstick.