‘Distortions key risk to charter vote’

THE chief constitution drafter says people who try to distort the charter draft should be held responsible if it fails to pass the referendum.

Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), said the drafters were working to the best of their ability and not concerned whether the draft passes a national referendum. 

He said if the draft failed to pass the vote it would be the result of people causing a misunderstanding among voters through distorted claims.

“That’s the answer you will get from the drafters. The drafters are writing the new constitution as best as our intelligence permits,” he said.

Meechai, speaking to The Nation, said the new draft contained provisions that aimed to rectify weaknesses in previous charters that led to the political crisis over the past decade.

He said the new draft would have a mechanism that could help prevent violent street protests, which were blamed for political unrest in the past. He said the charter would require an organisation to be set up that has the power to make rulings aimed at preventing political crises.

“The problem will no longer be allowed to drag on until it has to be solved on the streets again,” he said, referring to street demonstrations that caused chaos over the past decade. 

However, he said that did not mean the new draft aimed to prevent street protests. “The right to demonstrate is guaranteed by the constitution, as long as the rights of other people are not violated. This will be a focus for this new constitution. Guaranteed rights must be exercised in a way that does not infringe on other people’s rights,” Meechai said.

The new constitution would also have a mechanism that helps prevent corruption in a concrete way, according to the chief drafter. He said people convicted of graft or electoral fraud would be banned from contesting an election for life.

“This is a strong measure. We hope that aspiring politicians will be aware of its severity and avoid wrongdoing,” Meechai said. Political office holders would also be subject to tough rules that would see them banned from holding public office for life, if they failed to abide by them.

He said certain prohibitions in previous charters, which were not followed because there was no penalty, would now carry a punishment. For example, any MP, senator or Cabinet member who failed to follow a ban on misusing state funds would be removed from office.

Meechai said the new constitution would contain mechanisms aimed at encouraging real participation by the public in politics and lessening corruption and electoral fraud.

“This is aimed at purifying the politics and making the country move forward. We will be no longer be trapped in the old problems,” he said.

He said the people would have three main parts of participation in politics including the right to be informed and comment on the government’s important policies. 

They would also be permitted to take part in selecting government members, with a mechanism that gave them a clearer picture of political candidates vying for MP seats or to be prime minister. 

Members of the public would also be able to apply to be selected as senators without having to get involved with a political party.

He did not think the new charter would contain any provisions that made it compulsory to achieve reconciliation. “If we could achieve reconciliation by writing it in law, we would have done so long before. I don’t think you can achieve reconciliation just by writing law.”

He considered a national reform and reconciliation committee, as suggested by the National Legislative Assembly, unnecessary. “We have never thought of having it or thought as to why we need one,” he said.

Meechai said the draft now had 250 to 260 articles compared to the previous charter’s 309. He added that the final number could be lower, as some articles would be merged or removed during the revision process.

The drafters had agreed there needs to be provisions that require compulsory reform in certain areas, such as education and law enforcement. The drafters were also seeking input from the National Reform Steering Assembly to determine if other areas of reform should be required.