Lessons to be learned from resignation of charter drafter
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IT IS possible the drafting of the new constitution is not going as smoothly as previous charters and with one drafter resigning, the public should keep a very close eye on the process.
On Sunday, Ticha na Nakorn announced she was resigning from the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) and the National Reform Committee (NRC).
Ticha said she had resigned from the important junta-installed bodies because her objective was to push for gender equality while in the positions.
When she came to the conclusion that could not be achieved by being a charter drafter, she resigned to continue what she has stood for as an activist, like she has always been, instead of working for the government.
Ticha’s resignation could have been triggered by male CDC members shooting down her proposal for the charter to mandate that at least one-third of proportional party-list MPs be women.
She also called for one-third of local administrative council members to be women, a proposal that sparked a long-winded debate and is pending further scrutiny. That was also an influencing factor behind her decision to stand down from the two bodies.
These proposals caused conflict within the CDC. Some political observers and women drafters believe that women have been undermined and discriminated against, causing huge gender inequality issues.
Ticha’s resignations shine a light on this issue and the fact that drafters need to scrutinise every proposal very carefully, because if a similar problem emerges it could affect the people’s trust in the CDC.
In a statement, Ticha said: “I have lost hope and faith in communicating with some male drafters.”
For months the drafters have been ticking off one article at a time. Many outsiders would have viewed this as a smooth process without any obstructions.
However, the Ticha’s resignation has shined the spotlight on the process, which could awaken the curiosity of many political observers in terms of the drafting of the constitution.
The above issues might negatively affect the image of the CDC, because the proposals do not harm the country. The implementation of these proposals would strengthen women’s participation in politics but at least one has not been included in the new charter.
However, there are also positives to take out of this episode. Ticha’s case is a clear demonstration that within the CDC no one can totally impose themselves on other members and single-handedly determine the direction of the charter.
The lessons learned from the saga will depend on your perspective of the junta-appointed bodies but certainly the issue has had a huge impact on the public. From now on, the public will be paying closer attention to the drafting process.
This could pose another important test for CDC president Borwornsak Uwanno, who is now faced with the challenge of learning from this controversy and listening to members’ opinions more carefully so it is not repeated.
