Impeachment of independent office holders in focus

The petition should be submitted to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in case any commissioners under the agencies were accused of disproportionate wealth, malfeasance, and similar charges, he added.

The discussion was part of the week-long deliberations on the charter’s Independent Organisations Section. The discussions have been extended following lengthy discussions and unsettled details. 

Among the criticisms were the lack of checks and balances mechanisms to watch over independent organisations. The drafters yesterday therefore discussed this issue.

If agreed, the mandate would be close to or in line with what was addressed in previous constitutions.

Sukhum Nualsakul, a former Ramkamkaheng University Rector, said to allow impeachment petitions was a good idea. This way, non-elected independent bodies could be linked better with the people, he said, adding it was also a way of ensuring checks and balances.

The CDC had also preliminarily agreed to remove the part concerning the Constitutional Court from the Independent Organisations Section and instead placed it in the Court Section for the sake of “more clarity”, he said.

In addition, it had discussed the Election Commission (EC). They had agreed it would comprise seven commissioners, two of whom would be judges and the rest would be recruited or selected from different professions. 

They should serve a term of no more than seven years, Norachit revealed. But the initial CDC agreements could be revisited and subject to changes, he stressed.

They also deliberated on the duties and authority of the EC, he said. 

In a related development, CDC member Supachai Yavaprabhas who was also on the sub-panel studying executive bodies, revealed that the committee had already finished studying the pros and cons of different executive structures. 

Asked if they had discussed the selection of the prime minister and whether the PM would be an MP or non-MP, he replied that they had, but added there were also many other ways to select a PM and the panel would report all the studies to the CDC. 

The options, however, would also need to suit the Thai context, he said.

The panel is set to present the report to the CDC next week. It is giving the final touches to some of the text, he added.

It was not the subcommittee’s task to choose what was the best structure and defend it in the CDC meeting, Supachai stressed.