Online voting in referendum suggested for overseas Thais
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NATIONAL Reform Council member Sangsidh Piriyarangsan yesterday suggested that the Election Commission conduct the upcoming public referendum on the charter draft online to allow Thais living abroad the chance to vote.
He said Thailand was a middle-income country and extending the plebiscite to Thais living in foreign countries may not be worth the expense. To involve Thais living abroad in the process and to save money, he said the EC should use Internet technology. Sangsidh was also responding to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s remark that the NRC’s work had not met the government’s objectives because the council’s members did not belong to the government.
Sangsidh admitted that the NRC’s members came mostly from the public sector and not the military, and sometimes the NRC and the junta government had conflicting views but it did not mean either side was wrong.
He believed that once the NRC’s term ended after it votes on the charter draft, the government would pick people who had similar opinions to it to prevent conflicts.
NRC chairman Thienchay Kiranandana has reportedly called a secret meeting of the council tomorrow to discuss the NRC’s work after a vote on the charter draft is held.
NRC whip Alongkorn Polabutr said the NRC’s term was expected to end around August or September.
The council would also discuss speeding up work under its reform plans to meet the reform roadmap time frame, Alongkorn said.
He dismissed criticism of NRC members that they had failed to achieve concrete reforms.
Alongkorn said the NRC had carried out its duty to the best of its ability, with more than 1,000 public hearings conducted. None of the members had their term prematurely ended for being absent from work too often. Only a few had called in sick.
He said the NRC had pushed for the establishment of a new body to drive the reform plans and would present its reform roadmap to the government for implementation.
“I see the PM as a management executive who allows the NRC to work independently. There may be a gap between the government and the NRC. We need specialists to drive reform in the next reform movement,’’ he said.
“I, however, do not believe that the PM will appoint anyone to push for reform that benefits any vested-interest groups,’’ he added.
