New charter 60 per cent ready and on course: CDC
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THE new charter is up to 60 per cent written and on schedule to be published by the target date of January 29, 2016.
However, the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) still needs to do more study on certain issues, such as the acquisition of senators and the Cabinet’s authority, CDC secretary Pakorn Nilprapunt said yesterday.
No one is putting pressure on the CDC, he said.
The body is adhering to the design of a brief draft with no trouble, he said.
Former Senate president Nikom Wairatpanij said the principle of an indirect election, with representatives selecting candidates from 20 groups of major professions, which the CDC is now discussing, could be prone to interference, as it is easy to lobby within such groups.
The CDC should design a mechanism to ensure that senator candidates truly represent their professional fields.
The candidates could be nominated first and then subjected to an election so that more people could participate in the selection process, he said.
Wirat Kalyasiri, an ex-Democrat MP and leading legal expert, supported the CDC’s decision to prosecute senators and MPs found politically corrupt within the specific session.
However, the CDC should also include an immunity clause for MPs when voting in Parliament to prevent possible political defamation cases against them, he said.
MPs should be allowed to hold concurrently the post of minister, as they are acquainted with politics at the grassroots level. They should be able to respond to concerns as well as ministers, he said.
