CDC mulls composition of charter court and 'indirect election of senators'

The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has also been deliberating on the court’s composition to ensure its judges are best suited for its tasks, CDC spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said yesterday.

Judges must be fair and publicly accepted. So, they need knowledge not only in terms of the judiciary, but also of political science and public administration matters.

The drafters were also considering qualifications required for candidates to become Constitutional Court judges, its recruiting committee and terms of office, Norachit said. 

As for transferring impeachment authority from the Senate to independent agencies such as the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Constitutional Court, the spokesman said the two agencies already had the power to investigate and disqualify violators. 

He said once defendants were found guilty, they have to leave office – not because they are impeached by independent agencies. 

The spokesman said the CDC did not want impeachment authority to be stipulated in the new constitution, because there were enough agencies responsible for investigating cases and ensuring the guilty stop serving political office. 

So, he said, the Upper House’s work would mainly focus on approving laws. 

It was almost 100-per-cent certain that senators would not have the authority to impeach politicians. 

Norachit said that senators would not be directly elected or appointed, as such methods would not ensure the Senate was independent. 

He said the CDC also did not think combining the two methods would work, so the best choice was recruiting senators via indirect election. 

Currently, the CDC is considering whether senators should be selected based on their professions, with those unemployed or not categorised falling into the “others” group, he said. 

More details would be disclosed once the CDC has come to a concrete resolution on the issue. 

In the daily press briefing |yesterday, the spokesman also revealed the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration. 

The survey found that more than 80 per cent of respondents agreed with the idea of political parties disclosing their prime ministerial candidates during election campaigns, the spokesman said. 

The charter drafters proposed this idea earlier this month, but it drew much criticism from politicians and political observers. 

In the survey, most respondents said they only wanted to see one PM candidate per party, Norachit said, adding that they did not mind if the prime minister is elected or not.

In a related development, chairman of the National Reform Steering Council’s subcommittee on political reform, Seri Suwanpanon, yesterday submitted his panel’s proposal on the country’s political structure at a meeting with CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan yesterday.

Seri said that, in principle, his panel wanted the new charter to be concise and only stipulate main principles, so it will not encumber future elected governments.