Ombudsmen seek the power to discipline state agencies

The request came after the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) invited the Ombudsmen on how to enhance the performance of their office in investigating complaints about poor or improper administration by public authorities.

The Ombudsmen – there are three – proposed six major points they would like to see in the new constitution to help facilitate their duties being fulfilled. Most share the same bottom line – that the Ombudsmen should have the same powers granted to their office by the 2007 Constitution, if not more.

And like other independent agencies that have met the drafters over the past week, the Ombudsmen requested that some percentage of the national budget be allocated directly to their office so that its independence could be secured.

They complained that they needed an allocation of about Bt800 million a year when they only received about Bt250 million – a fraction of what they ask for. The insufficient budget affected their operation, they said. Indeed, all independent agencies currently rely on the Budget Bureau for the funding they receive, which, they believed, undermined their autonomy.

Meanwhile, CDC spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni told reporters at the daily press briefing that to date the subpanel drafting the charter was still working on the third chapter, on the rights and freedom of the people.

But, he stressed that everything what had been written was not an absolute resolution of the CDC – elements would change. The drafters would continue to talk every day about how to draft the new charter, Norachit said.

The spokesman said that as the CDC had already been working for two weeks it was time that they invite envoys and international organisations to hear about progress on the charter. The invitation had been widely accepted, so diplomats and group representatives would meet with the drafters on Monday, he said. However, he said the press were not included.