Abhisit urges Yingluck to ensure independent judiciary
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday urged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to guarantee that the judicial branch and independent organisations will remain independent despite other alterations to the Constitution.
Yingluck on Wednesday insisted that the rewrite of the 2007 Constitution should keep the first and second chapters intact, but Abhisit, the Democrat Party leader, said the government should also promise not to change the charter for the sake of any particular person.
“We have to see if the Pheu Thai Party will support the Democrat proposal related to the charter amendment in the parliamentary committee’s vetting of the bills, that Chapter One and Two of the 2007 Constitution will be used without any modification.
“If they are confident this is also what they want, they should support the Democrats’ proposal and this will be the majority view in Parliament. Then this issue is clear. We have to see the actions, not words,” he said.
The opposition has been questioning Pheu Thai’s attempt to amend the Constitution, while prominent Pheu Thai MP Watana Muangsook has heavily criticised the judiciary and independent organisations for lacking proper checks and balances. The courts have come out to defend themselves from the accusation.
The first two chapters of the charter are about the political system and state form and the monarchy.
Pheu Thai MP Samart Kaewmechai, chairman of the parliamentary committee deliberating the change to Article 291 of the charter, said Yingluck’s comment was just one opinion and his committee would have to listen to people from other groups such as MPs, senators and civil society.
At the panel’s first meeting yesterday, Samart said it would not go into the details of the changes to other parts of the charter.
The mandate of the committee includes stating the duties of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) and which chapters the CDA will have to work on. The panel will also consider the qualifications and the sources of the CDA members and the process of changing the charter as proposed by the CDA.
Article 291 outlines the process of changing the charter. Parliament last week resolved to amend it so that a CDA can be established to do the work.
Although the timeframe for the CDA to complete its draft has not been agreed upon, Samart said his panel would have to finish its work by March 25.
