Court ruling won’t pave way for long-serving ‘outsider’ PM: Meechai
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Chief constitution drafter Meechai Ruchupan said Thursday that he did not think the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Wednesday would pave the way for a non-MP prime minister to be in power for at least eight years.
Meechai said that, overall, the ruling would not bring about substantial changes although he added that he was not in a position to criticise the court’s judgement. Only the participation of the Senate in choosing a prime minister and the time frame for such an extraordinary process could be adopted, he added.
The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairman confirmed that the court ruling on the amendment of the draft constitution did not permit the Senate to propose prime ministerial candidates.
He said in a case where the members of House of Representatives could not agree in choosing a prime minister, support from at least two-thirds of both Houses would be needed to request a waiver of the PM lists submitted by political parties.
Consequently, PM candidates could come from inside or outside the House.
Meechai Thursday said he did not know whether this controversial role of the Senate would prompt further political problems. But he said he believed whoever were in the House would prioritise the national interest and follow the lead.
