Citizens should be discreet in trusting media, CDC sub-panel chief says
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Under the new constitution, citizens should be taught to be critical of the mass media and not readily believe in whatever information they are fed, Manit Suksomjit, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee's subcommittee on Citizen and Civic Right
Other proposals by the subcommittee are respect for other peoples’ rights, respect for equality, being responsible to society, discipline and lifelong education through both formal and informal means.
Manit said the state would have to take the responsibility through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
Mechai Viravaidya, chairman of CDC’s subcommittee on youth mobilisation for national reform, said the subcommittee concluded that an independent organisation or an organisation under King Prajadhipok’s Institute should be set up to facilitate youth participation in the drafting process for the new constitution.
Youths have been very forthcoming in expressing their views regarding what reform they wish to see under the new charter, Mechai said, with huge numbers of them responding through electronic mail and postal mail.
In a related development, the National Reform Council’s subcommittee on political reform has finished compiling its proposals, said Prasarn Maruekapitak, the sub-panel spokesperson. The proposals will be submitted to the CDC on Tuesday after the sub-panel votes to endorse it tomorrow.
The key proposals are direct election of the prime minister, reducing the number of members of parliament to 350 with all being elected, and doing away with party-list MPs.
Each electoral constituency should also have no more than three MPs, the sub-panel concluded, although voters can choose MPs from a different political party in the same constituency.
In reaction to the proposals, Democrat Party deputy leader Nipit Intrasombat said the whole process is now plagued with confusion, and no country with a parliamentary system directly voted for its prime minister.
Nipit also defended the party-list system of MPs, saying they offered the oppor-tunity for qualified people to enter politics and warned that doing away with the system would be a regressive move for Thailand.
