CDC refuses to reveal content of charter
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THE Constitution Drafting Committee says it will not publicly disclose the content of the draft charter until it submits the document to the National Reform Council.
The Thai Journalists Association has requested, on behalf of reporters at Parliament, for the CDC to allow journalists to observe the last week of charter deliberations and consultations with relevant groups, including the NRC and the government.
But CDC member Paiboon Nititawan told a press conference yesterday that journalists could not sit in on the talks.
The CDC has set the deliberations back two days, to Wednesday and Thursday. It plans to submit the draft charter to the NRC on Saturday.
At the meeting NRC and Cabinet representatives will acknowledge the charter’s content and the reasoning behind it.
Meanwhile, CDC head Borwornsak Uwanno received a request yesterday from veteran Bangkok Post reporter Mongkol Bangprapa.
“The 2014 interim charter doesn’t prohibit [the CDC] from publicising the draft before handing it to the NRC for their consideration,” the letter, which was signed by TJA vice president Manop Thip-osod, said.
Paiboon said the CDC well understood the role of the media in informing the public. However, he said the meeting would involve continued discussions and the CDC was concerned reports might contain incomplete information that could cause public confusion.
“The meeting has nothing to do with the interim charter, but instead was initiated by the CDC to be a communication platform between the CDC and the proposers [of charter content],” he said.
Paiboon said the CDC would share the content of the charter after it was submitted to the NRC.
The media request also called on the CDC to allow journalists to examine the content of the charter and ask CDC members questions from Monday to Friday next week – a day for each charter section.
Paiboon said he would take the request to the CDC meeting for consideration. But key CDC figures, including Borwornsak, should be willing to do so, he added.
