Independent agencies need stronger links with the Thai public, critics say

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SPECIAL REPORT
Independent agencies need stronger links with the public, critics say
KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN
THE NATION


Sirote

BANGKOK: -- INDEPENDENT agencies do not need more power to fight corruption but need to forge closer links with the public, prominent political critics have said.

Tasked with writing a charter that aims to eliminate graft, the new Constitution Drafting Commission this month invited representatives from the four agencies to discuss what was hindering their ability to counter corruption and how the new charter should be written to help overcome those difficulties.

The previous charter drafting body attempted to restructure the agencies by proposing that their roles be adjusted and their power cut. It also called on agency mergers and creating new agencies.

When given the chance to talk with the new drafters, the agencies - the Office of the Auditor General, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Election Commission and Ombudsman - said they wanted to have at least the same power afforded them by the 2007 Constitution.

Ideally, however, they want their powers increased, including having the capacity to oversee policies of political parties and the direct budget used for national expenditure. They also want greater autonomy.

However, the work of these agencies has been controversial at times. They emerged as a new check-and-balance innovation through the 1997 Constitution and for a while performed satisfactorily, if not successfully.

But things started to fall apart as politicians found loopholes and exploited their ability to interfere with these bodies. Coupled with the national divide deepened in the past few years, these organisations have become even more vexed as their work and impartiality was questioned.

Given this, should it be a concern that they are asking for more power?

Independent scholar Sirote Klampaiboon said on a news programme on Voice TV that the requests for more power was unprecedented and problematic, because the agencies called for a centralising of power.

He said they had demanded the authority to prosecute their targets when previously such a task was distributed to different agencies like the Office of the Attorney General or some other independent agency. And the practice had left room for cross-checking, he said.

If they were allowed to bypass this process and proceed direct to court, the check-and-revision process among independent agencies would be absent, Sirote explained.

He pointed to countries where independent agencies have more duties and less power. For example, there are election commissions abroad that are the sole power when organising elections but do not possess the power to determine who is right or who is wrong, he said.

The independent agencies were created in 1997 with the brief of strengthening democracy and the parliamentary system but instead "hijacked" Parliament's power, Sirote claimed. The Constitutional Court ruling against the Bt2-trillion borrowing bill for infrastructure projects under the Yingluck government was an example that showed how such a body meddled with a government's policies when they should not have the power to do so, he said.

The independent agencies were now running parallel with democracy, he said, meaning some have undermined rather than strengthened democracy.

Other political critics believe a major problem with the independent organisations is their lack of links with the public.

A human rights advocate who has shown a strong interest in the charter-writing process, Gothom Arya, said bodies capable of checking other government organisations should be more connected with the people.

They should allow public participation in their processes as volunteers and not just by offering opinions, he said, adding that hopefully this approach would get the powers-that-be to listen.

The member-selection process for the agencies should also be linked to the public, with senators elected by the people choosing the members, Gothom said.

Asked if the agencies' autonomy would be affected by politicians, he said the "bureaucratic party", which claimed itself decent while calling political parties evil, had already done that. The focal point should be on how to make these bodies connect with the public, he said.

Gothom, a former Election Commissioner, said the agencies had more than enough power.

A law professor at Thammasat, Worachet Pakeerut, agreed that the agencies should be linked with the people.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Independent-agencies-need-stronger-links-with-the--30271583.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-26

[american12bthai]

centralizing power without checks and balance.... so anyone with just a little bit of power can do whatever they want? sure, if you want something to hide from the people ... this would be great. Power can not be centralized. it must be numerous and spread out. !!!!!!!! your talking about taking power away from the king? off to jail you go!

YOU MEAN CENTRALIZE THE DATA! (not referring to the single gateway, bozo)and have a minimum, of 3 parties control the flow.

IF there is only one party, absolute power corrupts absolutly

IF there is only 2 parties. one will corrupt the other.

A judge, the Jury, and the executioner, WHere are you Punisher?

[Srikcir]

Independent agencies do not need closer links with the public.

They need closer accountability to the public when they exceed or fail their authority. They need to be integral to a democratic process whereby their members are not the choice of an unelected regime but have the mandate of the electorate.