FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Groups lobby for unified position on charter draft

Groups lobby for unified position on charter draft

Two groups from the National Reform Council (NRC) are lobbying other groups to unify their decision on whether or not to accept the charter draft, NRC member Wanchai Sornsiri said yesterday.

The NRC’s panel on political reform and another panel on legal and justice reform are spearheading their review of the charter draft. They will point out to other NRC members the charter draft’s strength and weaknesses. 
They plan to present these points for public debate before the NRC vote on the charter. 
Wanchai said members of the two panels have discussed the charter draft with provincial NRC members, academics and NGO groups in order to convince them to make the same decision.
Wanchai said the NRC believed the chapters on political structure were the most important and the Constitution Drafting Committee hardly made any changes to the draft after getting feedback from all sectors. 
The council was not confident that the charter draft would solve the country’s political problems, especially on election system, the composition of the Senate and the issue of a non-elected PM. 
The CDC would submit the final draft to the NRC on August 22 for their decision. 
NRC member Paiboon Nititawan, who also serves as a CDC member, said attempts had been made to make the CDC change the charter draft on the make-up of senators by having all 200 senators come from indirect election. 
The CDC had earlier resolved to have 77 elected senators – one from each province – and 123 senators from indirect election. The CDC also removed a screening council of senatorial candidates. Critics believe senators should not be wholly elected because the power base of senators and MPs should be different. 
If senators are elected, they should not be elected at the provincial level because this will allow political influence and interference in the Senate. He said as most elected senators are closely connected with political parties, this will affect the checks mechanism of Parliament. 
He said there was still time for the CDC to change its mind about the make-up of the Senate. They must change within two weeks, as the CDC has extended its term to 30 days with its term ending on August 22. Those who had proposed changes to the charter draft would be invited to acknowledge the result of their proposals from August 17-19. The NRC will vote on whether or not to accept the charter from September 5-7.
 
‘Reform movement weakened’
Meanwhile, Suriyasai Katasila, deputy dean of the College of Social Innovation, yesterday urged concerned state agencies to breathe a new lease of life into the reform movement, as it has been weakened due to opposition from those who would lose power and interest. 
Suriyasai said the public had little hope because of a lack of unity in the National Reform Council and inaction from the National Council for Peace and Order and the Cabinet. 
He said national reform is a social contract between the people and the Prayut government, but it has proven to be only “lip service” without any concrete results. 
“One year of the reform movement has turned into just a political sentiment that has failed to restore the public’s hope and confidence that the country would not repeat the vicious cycle of national division,’’ he said. A Cabinet reshuffle, if there was one, should answer the questions on reform or produce concrete results.
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