Nitirat rejects charter draft
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Nitirat, the Thammasat University law scholars group, Thursday issued a statement rejecting the charter draft.
The statement attacked the draft, saying it would allow the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief to continue to wield absolute power through Article 44.
The group also objected to the move giving ex-officio Senate seats to top military commanders and the national police chief.
It said the Senate, which would be also entirely selected by the NCPO, would have a significant role in the country’s administration. “It is thus inevitable that the Senate would be dominated by the NCPO, which has influence over the selection of all senators,’’ the statement said.
The law group also said the charter draft gave the Constitution Drafting Commission too much time – 240 days – to write the organic laws on elections.
The group added that the charter also exempted the NCPO from taking responsibility for any of its actions before or after the charter takes effect.
The statement attacked the single-ballot election system, saying it would distort the intentions of voters. It said an election system that reflected the intentions of voters must allow them to cast separate votes for the party-list and constituency MPs.
