Panel to make no more changes to draft charter
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THE CONTENT of the draft constitution will get no further adjustments and the punishment in banning corrupt politicians will follow those in the 2014 provisional constitution in order to avoid the draft charter being rejected, said General Lertrat Ratanav
Lertrat said there would be no further article changes despite the drafting process being extended by another 30 days as the CDC is conclusive on the text. The extended deadline was made only to allow the CDC to review the new charter, said Lertrat.
He added that CDC would issue a national code of ethics for prospective and current politicians and civil servants. Any politician found violating the code could end up being prohibited from engaging in political activities for five years, according to the new constitution.
He said that such legislation is supposed to follow what was stated in Article 35 of the 2014 provisional constitution.
“If we don’t design it this way, someone can propose to overturn the draft constitution because it doesn’t follow the 2014 interim constitution.” he said, adding that the CDC still has to follow the interim charter.
Lertrat also pointed out that the conditions for the revocation of immunity enjoyed by members of parliament while the House is in session will also be as earlier reported to the public. He said only the conditions in revoking the immunity have been amended while the immunity for parliamentarians still exists in principle.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Paiboon yesterday expressed his concerns over the draft constitution, saying: “No matter how it was written, no one will directly receive all the benefits. That’s why the [new] charter can’t be written in an extreme way.”
Paiboon said the charter drafters should be realistic in what details in the charter are acceptable to the public as things that go against public sentiment are bound to be rejected.
The constitution, he warned, no matter how lofty it was written, will remain a written text while the country’s solution depends whether people will trust and agree with it.
“So I would like to ask the CDC to foster good understanding regarding the contents in the new constitution to every concerned party, so they will be willing to sacrifice their own interests for that of national interest.” he concluded.
