New charter likely to transform political landscape, if passed

Since beginning its work last December, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has rushed against time in drafting the new charter, reviewed and revised it, and handed over the final version to the NRC yesterday for voting on September 6.

The charter has been trimmed from 315 articles to 285, following recommendations from the Cabinet, the NRC, and inputs from public hearings. It is divided into four key chapters plus a provisional clause.

“The CDC has taken into account all recommendations for consideration while drafting the charter, and those from the public were no less important than the others,” said Borwornsak Uwanno, chairman of the CDC, during the handover ceremony at Parliament yesterday.

The first chapter, about the King and the people, has seen no major changes as the King is still the head of state, while the word “citizen” chosen to underline the importance of a citizen was changed back to “people”.

But as Borwornsak noted, some recommendations from the people were also taken into account, and among these was the statement that said, an election is a duty.

Chapter two covers good political leadership and political institutions and elements. The chapter has introduced for the first time primary voting for political parties to give their members a chance to choose their favoured representatives to contest. This is aimed at ensuring their voices are heard in the party.

It has also chosen the Mixed-member proportional electoral system, under which the total number of members of a party in the House of Representatives would be determined from a mixed proportion of constituency MPs and party-list MPs.

People would vote nationwide first for their favoured parties, and the percentage votes would then be calculated to determine the total number of MPs that each party could have. Once each party gains the number of constituency MPs via a direct election, this would then be deducted from the total number of MPs it could have to help determine the party-list MPs to be added into the quota, creating the list of mixed constituency and party-list MPs of that party.

The charter has suggested a Parliament with a total of 450 MPs – 300 constituency MPs and 150 from party-lists.

The members of the Senate will come through a process of election and selection – 77 from an election and 123 selected from various professional groups. They will not be able to propose legislation as earlier proposed, but retain their roles of scrutiny and impeachment in Parliament.

The chapter also addresses ethical standards for those entering Parliament, banning those involved in criminal offences – including corruption and electoral fraud – for a lifetime.

One of the most controversial issues in the chapter is the provision for an “outsider” prime minister. The chapter stipulates that he or she must gain the support of two-thirds of MPs.

Chapter three is about scrutiny of state power and rule of law. The most controversial issue concerns the appointment of judges, impeachment, serious offences barring politicians from running in a poll or taking office, and independent bodies. The charter drafters have decided not to change the presence of two non-judges in the Judicial Commission after a heated debate.

The responsibility to impeach the prime minister, cabinet members, as well as senators will fall on parliamentary members, while the Senate will have the authority to impeach the court president, the attorney-general, and heads of independent agencies.

The chapter also addresses serious offences, corruption included, which would see politicians involved banned from entering politics or taking office.

The charter takes away the power of the Election Commission to issue a red card to candidates involved in fraud. The charter drafters have also decided to drop an idea to merge the key human rights promotion agencies – the Office of the Ombudsman and the National Human Rights Commission.

Chapter four has addressed for the first time reform and reconciliation. The chapter will be valid for five years unless a national referendum or parliamentary members vote to extend its life. The chapter also proposes setting up a new National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee (NSRRC).

The controversial provisional clause of the charter gives the NSRRC special powers to intervene in the event of a crisis during the first five years after the charter comes into force, in order to prevent any violence.

It also states that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will leave office along with the Cabinet once the new Cabinet enters office. In the meantime, the head of the NCPO and the NCPO will still have authority as stated in the provisional charter. 

An electronic version of the draft charter is available for download on the CDC’s website.