Political inclusion will help the charter drafting process
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AT LAST week's public forum organised by the National Reform Council (NRC)'s political reform panel, the country's main political parties and academics were invited to express opinions on the charter provisions.
It had become obvious that certain articles drafted by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) were viewed as controversial by a large proportion of the public.
Some amendments were needed if the draft charter was to have any chance of passing a referendum schedule early next year.
Pheu Thai representatives to the forum pointed to the introduction of “political groups” in elections. They claimed they would greatly damage the development of parties, and also showed that the drafters had no trust in the political parties’ system.
Another point of Pheu Thai concern was that non-elected senators would pose a threat to Thai democracy, as they would be given greater powers but have no democratic legitimacy.
The Democrat Party also offered recommendations for charter amendments, especially on Articles 181 and 182. Under these provisions, the prime minister would get “too much power”, which could lead to parliamentary dictatorship.
These suggestions from the country’s two largest political parties were significant. Either could take control of the country’s administration after the next general election - and they could be the ones to implement and uphold the constitution.
The reactions of the charter drafters to these critical voices have been encouraging.
Earlier this week, CDC spokesman General Lertrat Ratanavanich said the charter drafters would consider the possibility of crossing out the controversial articles 181 and 182. Another CDC member, Lt-General Navin Damrigan, said he welcomed the idea that certain articles needed to be amended or taken out in order for the charter to be accepted nationwide.
Lertrat also said CDC was now entering the period of collecting feedback from the public in order to make changes to the draft charter.
This showed CDC’s willingness to listen and embrace alternative viewpoints and most importantly, their intellectual and political independence from the coup maker – the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
The CDC has been under great scrutiny and public suspicion since being appointed by the junta late last year. Recent reactions and comments from various CDC members could ease such suspicion.
Charter drafters will have until July 23 to submit a complete draft charter to the NRC. That means they have less than two months to gather as much public opinion on the charter as possible and make all necessary changes on those controversial articles.
CDC and NRC alone cannot handle this great burden. Other sections of the public – for example academic institutions, professional associations and citizen sectors in all the regions or provinces must hold their own forums, gather and summarise their ideas and send them to the charter drafters.
The fact is this charter had been drafted by one isolated group, while others have been excluded and some strongly oppose it, or view this draft as illegitimate.
Last week’s NRC forum – where political parties were invited to express their opinions – was a good example of political inclusion in this crucial drafting process.
Various political factions and groups were gathered into a forum and all had contributed and raised what charter drafters admitted were important and reasonable issues in the charter that needed to be revisited.
Let’s have more of the same within these coming two months to ensure we have a fair and universally accepted charter so that the country can return to democracy as soon as possible.
