Charter rewriters must be elected: Weng

Weng also threatened to mobilise red shirts to campaign for 50,000 signatures to sponsor a motion on the charter rewrite if the government failed to spearhead it.

"The Pheu Thai Party and red shirts agree that Article 291 of the Constitution should be amended to pave the way for the formation of a Constitution Drafting Assembly," or CDA, he said.

Weng said the red shirts wanted the CDA to take charge of overhauling the charter and advancing democracy.

Although the past CDA models included elected and appointed writers, the 2007 Constitution should only be rewritten by those who are elected by the people, he said, adding that appointed writers might be sympathetic to dictatorship.

If the CDA comprises 100 writers, then one writer could represent 400,000 voters, he said. Hence, under this quota, Bangkok could elect 20 members of the team.

Weng said that though he wanted the government to take the lead on amending the charter, he could activate the signature campaign within two weeks to sponsor a motion on the issue.

He said he would notify Parlia-ment tomorrow of his intent to launch a signature campaign if necessary. Weng added that he expected Parliament to debate and combine three draft amendments by |next month before the CDA is formed. The three drafts, endorsed by the main coalition party and red shirts, would be the basis for CDA’s work.

As for the future Senate, former charter writer Seri Suwanphanont said speculation about dissolving the upper chamber was the rehash of an old debate.

In the latest round of debate to draft the 2007 Constitution, charter writers heard the pros and cons of a Senate before deciding whether to retain the upper chamber, he said.

He argued that as a non-partisan body, the Senate was part of the mechanism to check runaway power.