THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Senators ‘must serve public interest if they vote for PM’

Senators ‘must serve public interest if they vote for PM’

CDC chief Meechai says senators would need to be careful about who they back.

IF VOTERS empower non-elected senators in the referendum to choose the next prime minister, the senators must act with the public interest in mind, the chief charter writer says.
Meechai Ruchupan, head of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), said senators – numbering 250 under the proposed new charter – should not join minority MPs in voting to select the next PM, otherwise the government would not be able to function properly and more trouble would ensue.
In the referendum on the draft constitution, tentatively scheduled for early August, there will be an additional question as to whether senators should join MPs in voting to select a prime minister.
Meechai said the people should have faith that if senators are handed this power, the Senate will be very careful about casting votes to select the new head of government.
But there is another concern. If |the Senate, which counts as one-third of the entire Parliament, and a majority of MPs collaborate, their combined power would be nearly absolute,causing difficulties to the opposition.
However, Meechai said such cases were not unusual, because the government normally holds the majority voice in the Parliament or would not have been able to form an administration in the first place. 
In any case, the charter draft provides mechanisms for the opposition to have a role in advising the government. When the country is in trouble, all entities must work together, the CDC chairman said.
“For example, for an amendment of the constitution to be possible, it takes more than just the voice of the majority. Rather, every party should agree that it is really the best thing for the country,” he said. “All these mechanisms would prevent arbitrary exercise of power.”
Meechai also made clear that the referendum had two parts, the question to approve the constitution draft and the extra one proposed by the National Legislative Assembly. 
The CDC is responsible for explaining the first and the NLA for explaining the other one to the voters before the referendum in August.
He said both groups would also have to tell voters that if both issues pass the referendum, the charter would have to be amended.
Despite the controversy over the extra question on allowing the Senate to choose a PM jointly with the elected House of Representatives, the CDC head said drafters would have to amend the charter exactly as stated in the question, once it passed the national referendum. 
“We cannot independently amend it but must strictly follow the referendum outcome,” he said.
Asked whether the CDC would talk to the big political parties about the charter, Meechai said each party had its own goals and directions in which the CDC could not intervene. All the panel could do was to explain if they misunderstood any particular point.
“But if they just say that the charter is undemocratic, then I don’t know how to talk to them,” he said.
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