Thumbs down for charter

CRITICS HAVE questioned the potential of the charter draft to adequately address the country’s problems, including corruption and societal divisions, after it was released for the first time yesterday.

Constitution Drafting Commission chief Meechai Ruchupan held a press conference on the completion of the first charter draft after the CDC had spent around four months drafting it. 

He stressed that it was principally aimed at curbing corruption but critics questioned whether the mechanisms introduced were enough to do so.

Suriyasai Katasila, director of Rangsit University’s Thailand Reform Institute, said the mechanisms – including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) as well as tight screening of the qualifications of politicians and political office holders – responded merely to basic corruption. 

The country, he said, was plagued with a complicated corruption problem, with big investors colluding with politicians and resulting in large-scale policy-based corruption and a fundamental inequity problem that needed to be seriously addressed. The draft did not do that, he said

He also said the draft did not clearly devise a specific mechanism needed to bring about reconciliation and reform that the country was in dire need of.

“No matter how good a constitution we might have, we could still fail if we remain deeply divided,” Suriyasai said.

Buntoon Srethasirote, a former member of the Constitution Drafting Committee, agreed. He said he could see efforts had been made to address issues, but they were still at a basic level, when the issues facing the country were much more complicated.

For instance, the charter draft tries to secure people’s rights and freedom via a state commitment. 

Buntoon said that was no different from previous drafts and even this charter had toned down the state’s commitment to the people. 

He said the previous charter’s Article 67, which secured the peoples’ right to a healthy environment, was absent in this charter. There is only a pledge by the state to utilise natural resources carefully, he noted.

Most importantly, Buntoon said, this charter draft hardly addressed a key component of civil-based politics that aimed to reduce inequality, prevent corruption and stop deep divisions occurring in society.

Satithorn Thananithichote, a political scientist from King Prajadhipok’s Institute, said combining the mechanisms in the draft served Article 35 of the charter very well. 

He said it could solve the immediate problem of a parliamentary dictatorship facing the country, but that was not the fundamental problem in Thai politics.

The root of the problem, he observed, was that one party kept winning elections and others could not compete with it. 

The scholar said to sustainably solve the issue political parties, as a political institution, must be reformed and developed to the point where they could compete effectively against one another.

In response to the criticism that the charter draft was rather tight in terms of limiting future governments’ power, CDC chief Meechai said it was in line with Article 35 of the 2014 interim charter. It stipulates clearly that the new constitution set out mechanisms to effectively curb graft and get corrupt people out of politics.

“Because of the framework established through Article 35, this charter draft focuses sharply on curbing corruption,” he said. “As long as the interim charter is in effect, no matter how many times the new constitution is written, all these mechanisms will persist. The new drafters might come up with something even harsher.”

The CDC chief stressed that independent agencies and the Constitutional Court, principal mechanisms to help keep corrupt politicians in check, had not been given more power. 

Most of their authority remained the same as in the previous constitution, he said, adding that the new charter draft only stipulated more clearly what exactly was deemed to be corrupt and immoral. 

The checks and balances process would also be undertaken among those bodies, he said, while the Constitutional Court could be examined by the NACC.

In regard to speculation over the delay in holding a national election, Meechai said it could be postponed for a couple of months more if relevant organic laws were not finished in time. Alternatively, the CDC would consider picking only necessary laws to work on first to meet the deadline. 

The rest might be written later, he said, adding that it is necessary that a time frame be set for organic laws to be written or they would be neglected like before.

“The road map was the intention of the government. But if it’s not finished or there are no organic laws, the election will have to be put off for a couple of months, and that should not be a problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Pheu Thai Party branded the draft charter as undemocratic, saying it aimed to help the coup makers hand their power over to people they trust. 

In a statement, the party warned that provisions in the new charter would weaken political parties and future governments.

It called on the charter drafters and those in power to revise the draft so it upholds democratic principles. 

Pheu Thai also warned that if no revisions were made to the draft, it could give rise to more political crises.