Court lacks authority to rule on Senate amendment, professor warns
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The Constitutional Court has no authority to decide on the charter-amendment bill calling for a fully elected Senate, as the matter is now under royal consideration, warned Prof Ukrit Mongkolnavin, former president of Parliament and chairman of the govern
The court is scheduled to make a ruling on the matter today.
“Be careful. You may be violating the royal prerogative and the lese majeste law. You have no power to rule on the matter, as the prime minister has already submitted the matter to HM the King,” he said.
Ukrit said the court had to be careful not to seem swayed by either side of the political divide.
“I warn [you] with good intentions: Don’t do it. You’ll become prey for both sides. Do not violate the royal prerogative. People may clash and die – can you be responsible for those deaths?”
He also urged red shirts and anti-government protesters to remain peaceful: “Don’t kill one another.”
Ukrit was speaking at a packed symposium on “The Role of the Constitutional Court in the Survival of the Country” held yesterday by Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Law. He said that if His Majesty the King did not endorse the proposed amendment within 90 days, then he believed Parliament would act accordingly.
Bhokin Bhalakula, adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and former vice president of the Supreme Administrative Court, said the Constitutional Court only had the authority to decide whether something was constitutional; that did not include amendments to the charter itself.
He said the proposed amendment of the charter on the election of senators was not tantamount to changing the democratic political system, and thus was not a matter under the authority of the Constitutional Court.
But Thaworn Senneam, former deputy leader of the opposition Democrat Party, expressed a different opinion from that of Ukrit and Bhokin, saying the Constitutional Court did have authority on the matter.
“Is the charter court an obstacle for the government’s survival?” asked Thaworn. “Does the charter court not have the role of scrutinising the government?”
Thailand uses the principle of the Constitution being a higher authority than the parliament, he said.
He added that his party would accept whatever ruling the court made today.
“If we only have elected senators, we run the risk of facing political domination,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the Faculty of Political Science, Institute of Public Policy Studies chairman Chai-anan Samudavanija said he attributed the resumption of political turbulence to a lack of leadership on the part of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
“The prevailing political crisis has occurred because the country has a leader with low intellect who is a puppet of another,” he said.
Separately, Future Innovative Thailand Institute chairman Surin Pitsuwan yesterday proposed that voters push for national reform via voting in the next general election.
Surin Pitsuwan, a former Asean secretary-general, said political parties should announce their stance related to national reform during the election campaign.
