Prime minister could be non-MP : CDC
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The prime minister will not be required to be a House representative in the new charter. Khamnoon Sitthisaman, spokesman of the Constitution Drafting Committee said Thursday.
The premier does not have to be member of any political party, Khamnoon said.
The CDC opted for allowing a non MP to become a prime minister in order to open the way for an “outsider” to seat the head of the government in case of any political deadlock, Kamnoon said after its meeting yesterday.
He said, however, the premier would likely come from an MP as the new charter draft will state that House of representatives to nominate and vote for the prime minister and the House speaker will submit the name to His Majesty the King for approval.
Khamnoon said the CDC is planning for the next Senate to have 200 members and the authority to check the backgrounds of ministerial nominees.
The panel reached a consensus that 200 senators would be indirectly elected from five groups.
The groups are: former members of the executive, the judiciary and the legislature; former key government officials like former armed forces chiefs and former permanent secretaries; chairpersons of legalised professional organisations such as the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Thai Industries; people’s organisations; and various professional organisations.
Khamnoon said that senators would retain their authority to propose laws and remove the prime minister, ministers, House representatives, Senators and heads of government offices but such removal would require a majority vote of the House and the Senate.
Drafters plan to authorise senators to examine the profiles of minister nominees before the prime minister submits the list for royal approval.
Senators will also be empowered to check and publicise the moral profiles of heads of government organisations. The drafters have not concluded the senators’ terms of office.
Khamnoon added that under the new charter draft House representatives would nominate the prime minister and the House speaker would submit the name to His Majesty the King for approval.
On Wednesday, the CDC resolved that a total of 450 MPs will be elected under the new charter, with 250 of them drawn from constituencies and 200 others coming from the partylist system, according to its spokesman Gen Lertrat Ratanavanich.
