Differing opinions force NRC panel spokesman
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PRASARN MARUKPITAK, spokesman for the National Reform Council panel on political reform, announced yesterday that he was step?ping down ahead of the NRC debate on political reform scheduled for today.
He said his decision stemmed from the fact that his personal opinion is in contrast to that of the panel, which has chosen to propose the idea of directly electing the prime minister and cabi?net members.
Prasarn explained that he could not possibly announce the committee’s proposals if they were against his own opinion, as this would cause confusion – especially when it comes to the direct election of the PM and cabinet.
Hence, he said, he believes it is in the best interest of the public if he steps down as panel spokesman.
Prasarn also insisted that there were no personal conflicts between him and other members of the panel, even though his reform ideas were very dif?ferent from theirs.
When panel chairman Sombat Thamrongthanyawong revealed that his committee had initially decided to propose the direct election of top gov?ernment people, the proposal drew both praise and criticism from promi?nent figures and organisations in the country. It has also been one of the subjects drawing the most speculation over the past few weeks.
However, Prasarn has made it clear that he does not agree with the panel’s decision.
“I do not agree with the proposal that favours the directly election of a PM and cabinet members, because it would not solve the ongoing problem of weak checks and balances, and elec?toral fraud,” he said.
He added that this direct-election system would only be beneficial for wealthy candidates because they will need to finance a nationwide cam?paign, build a nationwide political network and have effective campaign management. Candidates would also require huge sums of money to pur?chase representation rights via media outlets.
“Since 2005, we experienced strong governments led by Thaksin [Shinawatra] and [his sister] Yingluck, and such a proposal will only make future governments stronger, thus worsening the key problem that we are trying to solve.”
