EC gains some power, loses some power under proposals
The Election Commission would have more power to close polling stations but would lose the power to disqualify election candidates under proposals made by the Constitution Drafting Commission.
The CDC resolved to increase the EC’s power by allowing just one EC member to decide whether to suspend voting at polling stations over suspected electoral fraud and call for a re-election.
The current law stipulates that a full panel of EC members should decide on election suspensions, which is deemed impractical, said CDC spokesman Amorn Wanitwiwat.
The EC would continue to have the power to issue yellow cards to election candidates suspected of electoral fraud.
But it would have to seek a Supreme Court ruling to issue red cards or disqualify election candidates suspected of committing electoral fraud.
The EC would have the right to order an investigation and a new public referendum if there is evidence the referendum is illegal.
The CDC is planning to include in the constitution the proposal to issue a lifetime ban for politicians and state officials found to have violated the principles of morality and ethics, CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said yesterday.
The CDC had earlier decided to include provisions in the charter that slap a lifetime ban on politicians found to be corrupt, in a bid to curb graft. Now the move to lay out rules on morals and ethics is seen as an attempt to set a higher bar for officials to meet.
Meechai said the CDC is thinking about drafting rules on ethics and morals to govern all state sectors, including politics. “Everybody, especially those in the field of politics, must conform to moral and ethical standards, otherwise they will be dismissed and banned for life from politics,” Meechai said.
He was responding to a proposal from Phra Buddha Issara, former core leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, who yesterday called for the establishment of a “Moral and Ethical Assembly” to monitor the behaviour of political officeholders.
Phra Buddha Issara urged Meechai to uphold the “Civic Assembly” provision included in the previous draft by the Borwornsak Uwanno-led CDC, saying that such an agency would empower people to scrutinise local government.
RELATED