All independence will be wiped out if charter amended

But this situation is likely to get worse if the proposed charter amendment related to senators goes through. 

 

Government MPs have voted in support of amendment clauses that would lift the ban on parents, spouses and children of MPs or political office holders from becoming senators. They also back lifting a ban on ex-MPs, former political-party members and former political-office holders who have left their positions for no more than five years. These prohibitions were obviously aimed at preventing the Senate from being dominated by people with political connections. 

 

But if these bans are lifted, people close to politicians and political parties will be able to contest for senatorial seats freely. 

 

A close look at the Senate’s duties and powers will show why people with political connections should not become senators. 

 

The Senate has six key areas of duty: screening laws; scrutinising the government administration; studying and approving key matters such as the appointment of a regent or declaring war; removing political-office holders by an impeachment process; selecting, appointing or endorsing the appointment of members of scrutinising agencies; and others such as amending the Constitution and acknowledging annual reports by state agencies.

 

If senators do not have political independence, they might well end up putting people with political links in charge of independent agencies such as the Constitutional Court, the Election Commission, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General. 

 

Hence the move to change the law so the Senate is open to political intervention has led to suspicion that politicians in power want to control independent agencies. After all, these very agencies have served as obstacles to the government on many issues, such as the Bt2.5-trillion borrowing bill and the water-related mega-project worth Bt300 billion. 

 

In 2000, when Thailand had its first wholly elected Senate, senators were clearly divided into two groups towards the latter half of their six-year term –those who favoured the then-ruling Thai Rak Thai party and those who sided with then-opposition Democrat Party. Many of these senators joined the party they were supporting after completing their term. 

 

The ban on relatives of MPs and Cabinet members as well as those who have left their political positions for less than five years from becoming senators was added to the 2007 Constitution in a move to keep the Senate free from political intervention. 

 

Yet despite this ban, the current upper house still includes senators with close political ties. So perhaps the best thing would be to try to limit the number of people with political connections in the Senate, because removing this rule completely would put the entire Parliament under the current government’s control.