Thai charter draft may not get hoped-for NRC rubber stamp

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BURNING ISSUE
Charter draft may not get hoped-for NRC rubber stamp
NITIPOL KIRAVANICH

BANGKOK: -- NEXT WEEK is likely to see a lot of heated words between the Constitution Drafting Committee and the National Reform Council as the draft of the new charter is put on the table for deliberation.

The provisional charter requires the CDC to hand over the finished draft of the new constitution to the NRC to scrutinise and debate, as well as make amendments if necessary.

This is also part of the strategy set by the National Council for Peace and Order.

The job of drafting the new charter was expected to go smoothly, as the organisations directly involved with the job as well as those governing the country were both appointed by the junta. However, some sparks might fly, as there are still some contrasting ideas among the CDC and NRC members, and especially if the debate veers towards whether certain reform proposals should be rejected during the article-by-article deliberation.

Conflicts might occur either because the charter drafters have firm ideas, or believe that the proposals forwarded by reformers are not suitable for inclusion in the new constitution.

For instance, Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, chairman of the NRC's panel on political reform, had earlier proposed that the prime minister and Cabinet be directly elected, but the CDC rejected his proposal and even included the provision that the PM does not even have to be a member of the House of Representatives.

Apart from the plan of a PM being put in place in complete discord with Sombat's proposal, the new charter also empowers the prime minister to propose laws. One provision states that the prime minister may declare a cabinet-proposed law or any part thereof as a vote-of-confidence submission. When such a declaration is made, if the House does not initiate a no-confidence motion within 48 hours, that bill automatically passes through the lower house and proceeds unchanged to the Senate.

To prevent "administrative dictatorship", though, such declarations are allowed only once in every parliamentary session.

Up until last week, the charter drafters had insisted on standing by their proposal on the state-power structure, which encompasses the premiership, the election system, the Senate and the relationship between the executive and legislative branches.

Hence political observers speculate that these matters, along with other provisions related to the political arena such as the new mixed-member proportional electoral system, could make Sombat a key player in dissecting the charter draft.

Meanwhile, these issues might also affect the junta negatively by steering its appointed agencies in different directions.

Yet from a different perspective, this debate might benefit the public, as it will give us a chance to have a closer look at what's on offer and determine whether these agencies' intentions are for the future of the country or for their own sakes.

Also, publicly broadcasting this scrutinising process could provide a bigger picture and insight into whether a referendum on the proposed constitution should be held.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Charter-draft-may-not-get-hoped-for-NRC-rubber-sta-30258140.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-17

[oneday]

Let the games begin.

[Srikcir]

NRC, CDC, NLA approval or disapproval of the draft charter - who cares? It's all window dressing without a national referendum.

The NCPO led by Chief Prayut is the one to ulitmately decide what will be in the final 2015 draft charter. Prayut has also indicated he is willing to simply have the final draft endosed by [....] and put into law under Article 44.