Draft charter will not ban Abhisit, proposes single-ballot system

The statement followed a Civil Court ruling that the former prime minister’s removal from the Army reserve in 2012 by former defence minister Sukumpol Suwannathat was legal and justified.

Abhisit allegedly presented fake military records to secure a lecturer job at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy and the rank of sub-lieutenant in 1987, according to the grounds of the discharge.

Pheu Thai Party members had questioned whether the verdict would disqualify Abhisit from serving as an MP candidate. Meechai responded yesterday that the former prime minister had not committed fraud and would not be disqualified to run in an election under the draft charter.

“It is a different case. What’s stipulated clearly in the draft is that those dismissed because of corruption will not be qualified,” Meechai said, insisting that he was not favouring Abhisit. Almost every country’s constitution contained similar stipulations about MP qualifications, he said.

However, people could still complain about the alleged forged documents to the Election Commission, which would then be responsible for a decision, Meechai said.

Meanwhile, the CDC chairman also expressed concerns about the ability of a single charter to address present conflicts.

He said many elements of the draft would be integrated to work as a harmonisation mechanism, including the single-ballot electoral system. 

Under the draft constitution, a single ballot will be used to tabulate votes for both constituency and party-list MPs, whereby a party’s total number of seats in Parliament will be determined by its proportion of the nationwide vote.

The system prevents a winner-take-all scenario, Meechai said, adding that even parties that do poorly in constituency races will have some representation and be able to participate to solve problems in times of crisis.

“But for the situation facing the country [the political divide] right now, it is difficult to come up with an approach,” Meechai said.

“There’s no way we can just write something in the draft that will make people harmonise. A lot has to be done and it will take some ... Perhaps it’s the government’s job,” he added.

Regarding new bodies that will push for reconciliation, Meechai said their formation did not necessarily need to be stipulated in the charter because they could be set up by the prime minister under Article 44 of the junta’s interim constitution.

Article 44 gives Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha near-absolute power.

Meechai added that the controversial issue of a non-elected prime minister depended on the political parties, which would be responsible for advancing PM candidates.

“It’s the parties that choose the prime-ministerial candidates, not the CDC,” he said.

In response to complaints about the electoral system and other proposed reforms, the CDC chairman said reform by definition required novel ideas, adding that the status quo would not constitute meaningful reform.

However, Meechai said the crucial points of the draft had been agreed upon by survey respondents.

Meanwhile, CDC spokesman Amorn Wanichwiwatana said drafters were considering yesterday whether to include national-reconciliation proposals in the draft.

But he added that the present CDC drafters would not seek to set up a crisis panel such as the National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee, which was proposed by the previous charter-drafting team led by Borwornsak Uwanno, which has since been dissolved.

However, he cited Meechai as saying some existing organisations, including the Constitution Court, could act to resolve political crises and render the final judgement during times of political deadlock.