Thailand Eyes UN Human Rights Council Seat with Optimism

[Lite Beer]

New charter likely to transform political landscape, if passed
PIYAPORN WONGRUANG
THE SUNDAY NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE NEW charter, if endorsed by the National Reform Council (NRC) and a majority of Thai citizens in a referendum, would likely change Thailand's political landscape significantly with several new elements ranging from a new political system to a new strategic body with the ultimate power to intervene in a crisis. The junta will, meanwhile, continue in power until the new Cabinet formed after the general election is sworn in.

Since beginning its work last December, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has rushed against time in drafting the new charter, reviewed and revised it, and handed over the final version to the NRC yesterday for voting on September 6.

The charter has been trimmed from 315 articles to 285, following recommendations from the Cabinet, the NRC, and inputs from public hearings. It is divided into four key chapters plus a provisional clause.

"The CDC has taken into account all recommendations for consideration while drafting the charter, and those from the public were no less important than the others," said Borwornsak Uwanno, chairman of the CDC, during the handover ceremony at Parliament yesterday.

The first chapter, about the King and the people, has seen no major changes as the King is still the head of state, while the word "citizen" chosen to underline the importance of a citizen was changed back to "people".

But as Borwornsak noted, some recommendations from the people were also taken into account, and among these was the statement that said, an election is a duty.

Chapter two covers good political leadership and political institutions and elements. The chapter has introduced for the first time primary voting for political parties to give their members a chance to choose their favoured representatives to contest. This is aimed at ensuring their voices are heard in the party.

It has also chosen the Mixed-member proportional electoral system, under which the total number of members of a party in the House of Representatives would be determined from a mixed proportion of constituency MPs and party-list MPs.

People would vote nationwide first for their favoured parties, and the percentage votes would then be calculated to determine the total number of MPs that each party could have. Once each party gains the number of constituency MPs via a direct election, this would then be deducted from the total number of MPs it could have to help determine the party-list MPs to be added into the quota, creating the list of mixed constituency and party-list MPs of that party.

The charter has suggested a Parliament with a total of 450 MPs - 300 constituency MPs and 150 from party-lists.

The members of the Senate will come through a process of election and selection - 77 from an election and 123 selected from various professional groups. They will not be able to propose legislation as earlier proposed, but retain their roles of scrutiny and impeachment in Parliament.

The chapter also addresses ethical standards for those entering Parliament, banning those involved in criminal offences - including corruption and electoral fraud - for a lifetime.

One of the most controversial issues in the chapter is the provision for an "outsider" prime minister. The chapter stipulates that he or she must gain the support of two-thirds of MPs.

Chapter three is about scrutiny of state power and rule of law. The most controversial issue concerns the appointment of judges, impeachment, serious offences barring politicians from running in a poll or taking office, and independent bodies. The charter drafters have decided not to change the presence of two non-judges in the Judicial Commission after a heated debate.

The responsibility to impeach the prime minister, cabinet members, as well as senators will fall on parliamentary members, while the Senate will have the authority to impeach the court president, the attorney-general, and heads of independent agencies.

The chapter also addresses serious offences, corruption included, which would see politicians involved banned from entering politics or taking office.

The charter takes away the power of the Election Commission to issue a red card to candidates involved in fraud. The charter drafters have also decided to drop an idea to merge the key human rights promotion agencies - the Office of the Ombudsman and the National Human Rights Commission.

Chapter four has addressed for the first time reform and reconciliation. The chapter will be valid for five years unless a national referendum or parliamentary members vote to extend its life. The chapter also proposes setting up a new National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee (NSRRC).

The controversial provisional clause of the charter gives the NSRRC special powers to intervene in the event of a crisis during the first five years after the charter comes into force, in order to prevent any violence.

It also states that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will leave office along with the Cabinet once the new Cabinet enters office. In the meantime, the head of the NCPO and the NCPO will still have authority as stated in the provisional charter.

An electronic version of the draft charter is available for download on the CDC's website.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/New-charter-likely-to-transform-political-landscap-30267221.html

-- The Nation 2015-08-23

[oneday]

A complete waste of time.

Even if the NRC endorses it, the referendum will fail. It diverges too much from a true Democracy.

[ramrod711]

A complete waste of time.

Even if the NRC endorses it, the referendum will fail. It diverges too much from a true Democracy.

You may be right, but you may be underestimating how fed up Thai people are with the Thaksin/military cycle of governance.

[Tonawatchee]

A complete waste of time.

Even if the NRC endorses it, the referendum will fail. It diverges too much from a true Democracy.

You may be right, but you may be underestimating how fed up Thai people are with the Thaksin/military cycle of governance.

I am aware of the hostility many Thais hold for Thaksin but do you think there are more of them than those who hold him in high regard?

[deckape]

^^ enough to vote for him even.

[phoenixdoglover]

I tidied up the opening paragraph a bit.

BANGKOK: -- THE NEW charter, if endorsed by the National Reform Council (NRC) and a majority of Thai citizens in a referendum, would likely change Thailand's political landscape significantly with several new elements ranging from a new political system to a new strategic body with the ultimate power to intervene in a crisis. The junta will, meanwhile, continue in power until the new Cabinet formed after the general election is sworn in.

[ramrod711]

A complete waste of time.

Even if the NRC endorses it, the referendum will fail. It diverges too much from a true Democracy.

You may be right, but you may be underestimating how fed up Thai people are with the Thaksin/military cycle of governance.

I am aware of the hostility many Thais hold for Thaksin but do you think there are more of them than those who hold him in high regard?

I don't know, we will see when there is a referendum. It is an opportunity for people to let their feelings be known, and that can't hurt. Maybe the first step in returning to democracy without returning corruption and arrogance.

[pattayasnowman]

"Mixed-member proportional electoral system" Too complex for the average voter (including me) I read this several times and still don't get it

As to 123 selected senators out of 200 - hardly democratic

[tbthailand]

red herring.

political landscape was changed when Suthep & Co hit the streets at the end of 2013. The rest is just the water flowing downstream...

[tbthailand]

The members of the Senate will come through a process of election and selection

they continue with this blatant lie.

Those so-called "elected" senators will be pre-selected.

What utter horse-siht

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

A complete waste of time.

Even if the NRC endorses it, the referendum will fail. It diverges too much from a true Democracy.

You may be right, but you may be underestimating how fed up Thai people are with the Thaksin/military cycle of governance.

I think you underestimate how tired Thai's are of the BKK elites and green shirts forcing down constitutions on them. They have seen what happened after the peoples constitution (1997) was taken away from them and replaced by the elites 2007 constitution. I however believe that large scale fraud will take place trying to pass this constitution, because if they dont do that they have less than a 30% chance of it passing. The people I know would rather hang on for a acceptable constitution to come around than to vote for one that makes a farce of democracy. Unfortunately a good constitution like the 1997 one will never be written by the existing powers as that would force them to reflect the peoples views in the new constitution which would defeat their anti-democratic tendencies. We are facing a future where different colours will combine forces to restore democracy. The existing powers are trying to keep the Thais divided but through their arrogance/ignorance they will unite the people against them - the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[ramrod711]

A complete waste of time.

Even if the NRC endorses it, the referendum will fail. It diverges too much from a true Democracy.

You may be right, but you may be underestimating how fed up Thai people are with the Thaksin/military cycle of governance.

I think you underestimate how tired Thai's are of the BKK elites and green shirts forcing down constitutions on them. They have seen what happened after the peoples constitution (1997) was taken away from them and replaced by the elites 2007 constitution. I however believe that large scale fraud will take place trying to pass this constitution, because if they dont do that they have less than a 30% chance of it passing. The people I know would rather hang on for a acceptable constitution to come around than to vote for one that makes a farce of democracy. Unfortunately a good constitution like the 1997 one will never be written by the existing powers as that would force them to reflect the peoples views in the new constitution which would defeat their anti-democratic tendencies. We are facing a future where different colours will combine forces to restore democracy. The existing powers are trying to keep the Thais divided but through their arrogance/ignorance they will unite the people against them - the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

I think you have made your point, you don't want this government to succeed. I'll tell you something, no one dislikes Thaksin more than me, but when Yingluck was elected I wished for her to be a good PM for the good of the country. I think most Thais liked her manner of speaking and were hoping for her to be independent and do the right thing. Most Thais were disappointed, that brought me no joy. I care about this country, it is my home now, for you to wish more strife just so you can be right and prove your point instead of hoping that something good will happen, is disgusting. Make points about procedure, or lack of democracy as you see it, but don't wish for failure, the country can't afford it.

[tigermonkey]

I believe that I have a basic understanding of this now. After much furor, this proposed New Constitution will be put up for legitimization through a referendum. The referendum will. of course, be passed by a respectable margin, and all charges of coercion and a multiplicity of other voting irregularities will be denied to all the World by both the Junta and cooperating Thai media.

The election will be held under the auspices of the Junta and Section 44. The election will again be very fair and transparent, in the same manner as the referendum, All party platforms will be pre-approved by the NAC, and all party policies will appear to be the same to any astute observer. A party representing the people ( who are no longer citizens, by definition of the new Constitution – presumably citizens are a higher calling than mere people, and ‘citizen’ will be defined later) will win about 48% of the vote, while other parties will amass 29%, 11%, 4%, 4% and 3% of the vote respectively. constituent MP's will be awarded their seat where they have won the vote. The remainder of the 300 seats will be awarded to party list candidates according to the percentages of votes won in the election.

The party of the people will be tasked to appoint a cabinet to rule the country, at which point the NCPO will cease to exist per the Constitution.

The NAC (remember them ?) will be disbanded ,and all members will become Senators. The remaining 70 Senate seats to be voted into the Senate, will be filled by the votes of the already appointed Senate members.

All so very tidy and constitutional --- and peaceful -------- and happy !

The MP’s will gather together to appoint a new Prime Minister. Naturally, the party of the people will propose their leader to be Prime Minister. However, when the votes are counted the candidate will only get about 48% of the votes and 67% is required to become Prime Minister. Each party, one after the other will propose a candidate and each will fail to get close to 67 %. Several outside candidates are proposed and again each will fail to win enough MP votes. After three weeks of this debacle, Thais everywhere are becoming upset with the process, and protests are starting to spring up everywhere.

Suddenly, the National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee ( NSRRC ) steps forward. This group has been created by the new Constitution to “intervene in the event of a crisis, in order to prevent any violence”. “We are intervening for the good of Thailand and to create happiness’, says Chairman Prayuth of the NSRRC,

Edited August 23, 2015 by tigermonkey

[seajae]

"The chapter also addresses ethical standards for those entering Parliament, banning those involved in criminal offences - including corruption and electoral fraud - for a lifetime." Well if nothing else this bit is gold, about time they put something like this in it, pity it doesnt say "and will be jailed and have all their assets seized"