Public, media can watch charter drafters at work

Borwornsak Uwanno, chairman of the CDC, said the media, the National Reform Council, National Legislative Assembly, foreign diplomats and members of the public could observe the writing of the charter by article, starting today. The first
chapter of the charter features the monarchy and the people.
The media would be allowed to take video and photographs during the initial period, after which they could only observe. They would be banned from recording sessions live or reporting live what was said during the meetings.
During the drafting, the charter writers would be allowed to do alterations to the draft but  must follow regulations on amendments and submit their drafts to the CDC within three days, he said. They must stage reasons for any amendment, which must not violate basic principles of the related chapter of the charter.
CDC’s drafting panel spokesman Lt General Nawin Damrikan said the charter drafters should look at the whole picture of the charter before proposing amendments in any provision. He said the factors they should look at were if the draft responds to public demands and its national and international context, especially the integration into the Asean economic community at the end of this year.
He said the charter should also be a “living” one, meaning it should project visions, strategies and guidelines for a government to pass on to the next government.
He said the CDC had 90 days to draft the whole charter excluding the weekends. In order to finish the work on time, charter writers must write four articles a day.
He said public hearings and feedback on each provision were vital for public participation and consensus.
A source said Borwornsak had instructed Jade Donavanik, who heads the panel, to write organic laws that ensure Cabinet performs its duties with good governance, ethics, and following the code of conduct.
Jade had said previous governments failed to follow good governance and ran their administrations with conflicts of interest. Although there were regulations on ethics and code of conduct for political office holders, the law lacked teeth to punish wrongdoers. He said appointments of political officer holders, such as assistant ministers, had not been done according to directives and this had led to demands for kickback payments and malfeasance in the past.