Draft bill on Ombudsman sails through first reading in NLA

By The Nation

 

 

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Thursday voted to accept in principle the new Ombudsman draft bill in the first reading, under which higher qualifications have been set for members of the Office, similar to those in the controversial Election Commission bill previously endorsed by the body.

 

The NLA voted 217-4 in favour of the bill, with four abstentions.

 

The law vetting committee would scrutinise the bill before tabling before the NLA for the second and third readings within 45 days.

 

The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has given the Ombudsman an advisory role on state officials’ performances. If they fail to comply with the Ombudsman’s advice, they could face penalties imposed against them.

 

The change in the role of the Ombudsman could be interpreted as a reconstitution of the Office, which would not be fair to present members and could violate the Constitution, the NLA meeting observed.

 

CDC chief Meechai Ruchupan, however, viewed it differently. He told the NLA meeting that the reset of the Ombudsman would not violate the charter, but allowing the present members to remain in their positions would. 

 

But it’s up to the NLA to make a decision and forward the contentious points to the Constitutional Court to rule on later.

 

Meechai insisted that the CDC had treated all the independent agencies fairly, saying it was not biased against any of them. 

 

To reform the country, what should be ended, must be ended, he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30318185

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-6-15

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has given the Ombudsman an advisory role on state officials’ performances. If they fail to comply with the Ombudsman’s advice, they could face penalties imposed against them.

Hardly advisory if The Ombudsman can impose penalties. Just another mechanism to keep in check the next elected government.

One down 99 to go!

why must the current ombudsmen members quit ? they do not meet the new qualifications ? and what are those ?

this smacks of re-engineering an important check and balance with bias; perhaps the new qualification is that all members must be generals

2 hours ago, Get Real said:

One down 99 to go!

No need.

Senate down, PM down, Constitutional Court down, NAAC down, Ombudsman down

 

Sovereignty of the Deep State will continue to overrule the sovereignty of any elected government.

 

Suggested reading:

“The Deep State: Forms of Domination, Informal Institutions and Democracy.” Heinrich Böll Stiftung, June 16, 2014

http://tr.boell.org/de/2014/06/16/deep-state-forms-domination-informal-instutions-and-democracy

"Thailand’s Deep State, Royal Power and the Constitutional Court (1997–2015)." Eugénie Mérieau published online: Feb 29 2016

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00472336.2016.1151917

 

13 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

No need.

Senate down, PM down, Constitutional Court down, NAAC down, Ombudsman down

 

Sovereignty of the Deep State will continue to overrule the sovereignty of any elected government.

 

Suggested reading:

“The Deep State: Forms of Domination, Informal Institutions and Democracy.” Heinrich Böll Stiftung, June 16, 2014

http://tr.boell.org/de/2014/06/16/deep-state-forms-domination-informal-instutions-and-democracy

"Thailand’s Deep State, Royal Power and the Constitutional Court (1997–2015)." Eugénie Mérieau published online: Feb 29 2016

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00472336.2016.1151917

 

Oki doki! The comment was just a reminder of that everything take so long time to finalize. You just take it too serious.
Thanks for the links, but in am absolutely not that interested. 

 

Another thing, though. When so many are and have to be down, it actually sounds like a democracy where questions have to pass and be controlled by many instances. Off course, that´s only on the outside.

Shocking!