'Amend charter as we said and the NRC will back it'
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THE National Reform Council would vote to pass the draft charter if the Constitution Drafting Committee alters the text in ways the NRC has suggested, NRC whip spokesman Wanchai Sornsiri said yesterday.
Wanchai declared the NRC’s debate on the charter draft over the past seven days a success.
He said the body would submit its recommendations to amend the draft to CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno within 30 days.
He said the NRC would write with details of 36 reform agenda items and seven development plans stated in the charter draft.
Corrupt politicians would fear the new charter because there were effective mechanisms to eradicate, block and punish them, he said.
Wanchai was responding to criticism made by politicians that the charter draft aimed to maintain dictatorial power.
“Good politicians are not perturbed by the new charter.”
He said the new charter was meant to promote and protect the interests of the public and not vested interest groups.
Meanwhile, political activist Suriyasai Katasila said there were five weaknesses in the charter draft that may cause it to be rejected by the NRC.
He said the point on decentralisation created division between two camps. While some NRC and CDC members want to increase local government power and to reduce central government power, others believe the current power structure should be maintained.
Under police reform, he said the issue about separating investigative power from inquiries and arrests had been met with strong resistance from the NRC.
Some reformers believed reform of the police force should be done by preventing political interference, but he said they had not thought about how to ensure good governance in the police.
Suriyasai said the NRC’s panels on civic groups and permanent officials had not given importance to the stability and the strength of civic groups and civil politics, so they had not allowed public participation in the crafting of public policies.
The panels believed that the strength of the bureaucratic system was a key to solving the country’s problems.
Suriyasai said many NRC members were trapped by the idea that only the direct election of representatives was democracy and the indirect election of representatives from diverse professions was not.
The activist said the NRC was split down the lines of conservatives and liberals.
“This reflects Thai society, which is also split between the two ideas. We must find a balance and learn to build a society of political pluralism,” he said.
