National ethics body to be set up
Play
Public agency will impeach politicians who violate MPs' new code of ethics; job taken off ombudsman as it took too long
AN INDEPENDENT body called the National Ethics Assembly that “belongs to the people” will be established under the new constitution to impeach politicians who violate the newly drafted “politicians’ code of ethics”.
General Lertrat Ratanavanich, spokesman of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), said yesterday that the responsibility to regulate politicians’ ethical conduct will in effect shift from the Ombudsman to the assembly because in the past the process took too long.
This is part of the constitution drafters’ agenda to tackle the “moral and ethical issues” that were perceived as important areas that had been overlooked.
Some CDC members expressed concern about the scope of the assembly’s power, as they were surprised by the power the assembly will be given under the draft provision.
Some worried that the current members acquisition framework, which will be decided by members of the National Reform Council (NRC), may not allow it to truly be “the people’s assembly”.
Yesterday was the first day for charter drafters to begin their drafting process on “political system, political parties and politicians”, which had received great public attention.
The venue was moved from Parliament House in Bangkok to the Holiday Inn hotel in Pattaya so that the charter drafters could work longer hours, but in a more relaxed atmosphere.
During opening remarks at the conference, CDC head Borwornsak Uwanno said the committee would bring its charter drafts to gather public opinion. Informing the public about the new drafts should be in a form of intent of the constitution rather than legal articles, so that they understand the draft easily.
The matters he will explain to the public would be about empowering the public to participate, and the topic of transparent politics, strengthening morality and integrity of politicians including bringing the country into peace.
Empowering the public by strengthening their participation could be perceived as giving authority back to the people, he said.
The article states that “ethical standards for politicians and public officials will be set by the National Ethics Assembly. There must be an effective mechanism to enforce ethical standards and punish violators according to the magnitude of the offence”.
Working procedure
The article also lays out the working procedures of the National Ethics Assembly. In cases where politicians at any level, including national or local, commit what is considered a serious violation of ethical standards, the National Ethics Assembly shall briefly submit the cases to the Election Commission.
Citizens will vote for their impeachment and political disqualification for five years in the next general election.
Another article covers public office holders, politicians and other government officials. Leaders must consider the country and benefit for the public before themselves and their political parties.
Section one of the article stipulates they must separate their personal matters from their professions, and consider the interest of the country and its people before their personal gains, including those of their political groups or political parties.
This article also states that in expressing one’s opinion, debating or informing the public must be done with facts and honest information without falsifying the information.
One CDC member said she had seen that often politicians push forward policies that affect the public directly, so they wait to inform the public after the process of pushing policies is a done deal.
If the public voiced disagreement or opposition towards the policy, it was already too late. This situation must be avoided by providing the public with timely and correct information, because some policies affect the people greatly.
The draft also states that politicians who commit wrongdoing that adversely affect the country or its people have to take responsibility for their actions.
At the end of this article, Section 5 stipulates that when a violation of the constitution, law or code of ethics is found, a person must inform the organisation under this charter to scrutinise the matter.
Lertrat said this last article was proposed by the CDC’s public opinion gathering panel. People had demanded that a charter’s provision should be descriptively and clearly written on politicians’ code of ethics in order to set examples of appropriate ethical standards that politicians ought to adopt.
