Drafters want a non-elected PM, Chaturon claims

The CDC has proposed that political parties nominate a PM before a general election. 

Chaturon, a former deputy prime minister, said the move to opt for a one-ballot election system instead of the two-ballot system previously used would mean the electorate picks a constituency MP, a party-list MP and a PM in one go. 

The one-ballot system would cause confusion to voters, unlike the two ballot system in which electorates have the liberty to pick their favourite candidate, who may not be under the banner of the political party they favour, Chaturon said. 

He was also critical of the proposed calculation for party-list votes, which he claimed would result in parties winning more than half the total constituencies becoming minority parties. 

“I wonder if this will help pave the way for a non-elected PM. I must admit that CDC chairman [Meechai Ruchupan] is a master of legal techniques who can tactfully create conditions that lead to a non-elected PM scenario and inevitable dominance or influence of an extra-bureaucratic force,’’ he said.

Chaturon said the CDC proposals would also lead to political collusion because small parties could nominate the same PM as large parties.

The ex-Pheu Thai MP also opposed the CDC proposal to disband the government if governments MPs are disqualified. “This is a wrong approach as the CDC seeks to punish all, resulting in the collapse of a government,” he said.

He said there may be other rules that would cause a government to easily collapse such as the CDC proposal that a constituency MP candidate must have more votes than the number of “no” votes in their constituency.

“Just at the start, we know that the CDC is designing conditions that make elections not a solution of the country but the extra-bureaucratic force is,’’ he said.

He said as long as the country did not have a democratic charter, there was no need to go to the polls because the people’s voice was meaningless under such circumstances.

“If that is the case, we have to campaign to get the public to reject the charter draft. It is better we do not have an election yet because if the charter draft passes a public referendum, the country will certainly be hit by a crisis,’’ he claimed.

Meanwhile, Klanarong Chanthik, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly’s panel on political affairs, said his committee had submitted opinions on the new charter to the NLA’s special committee scrutinising the charter draft.

The committee suggested that the PM be supported by the House of Representatives and the charter draft did not need to specify whether the PM should be elected or not. The draft should not indicate the conditions for a non-elected PM, it suggested, as this would constitute a problematic scenario as had happened earlier.

The committee suggested that senators should be appointed and have the power to impeach only officials they endorse. A legal body should be established to resolve national crises and promote national reconciliation. 

It said the State Audit Commission should take part in the selection process and approve the appointment of the Auditor General, who must be endorsed by the Senate.

The power and authority of the State Audit Commission must be as stipulated in the amendment to the 1999 Charter’s organic law on state audit, as this law empowered the commission to oversee the implementation of government policies.