Royal nod to charter by deadline: CDC

But Meechai Ruchupan, head of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), declined to say when the new constitution would take effect. 
“I cannot give you the exact date,” he said, adding that the final handwritten ceremonial version of the constitution had been completed.
Meechai said he believed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would submit the draft constitution for royal endorsement tomorrow (Nov9) and that the new king would sign his approval of the draft within the 90-day deadline set by the post-coup interim charter.
“I believe there will be no delay,” he told reporters at the Parliament yesterday.
Meechai voiced confidence that the drafters would complete the four organic laws required before the next general election. He said the drafters in his panel had begun work ahead of schedule. 
“We have sufficient time for the job. But if we need more time, we will need to work at night,” he added.
The chief drafter said members of the CDC were carefully discussing the pros and cons of draft laws to ensure that they would be fully compatible with the new charter and practical.
He said the drafters were being particularly careful about provisions that would punish politicians who commit offences or have impacts on political party executives. 
“We will need to look carefully into the details,” Meechai said.
CDC spokesman Udom Rathamarit said yesterday that the drafters were writing the new law on political parties with the goal of ensuring transparency by political parties. Party membership lists, for instance, must be examined to prevent repetitions, he said.
Meanwhile, a proposal by the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) subcommittee for reform of political office holders met with strong opposition yesterday.
The panel has suggested that holders of political offices be paid much higher monthly salaries of between Bt200,000 to Bt300,000 in order to help reduce corruption.
Seree Suwanpanont, head of the NRSA panel on political reform, said yesterday the proposed salary increase was “improper and unnecessary”.
He warned relevant authorities to be careful about proposing salary increases for politicians, saying the public would not accept it.
“All salary increases in the past for public office holders met with strong criticism,” Seree said. “We are now in a period of national reform. So we have to protect the interest of the country and the people.”
Former election commissioner Sodsri Sattayathum also voiced opposition yesterday to salary increases for political office holders.
“I don’t think much higher salaries will prevent political office holders from getting involved in irregularities or making personal gains. Many corrupt politicians didn’t even want their salaries. The political offices they got could bring them more benefits – directly and indirectly – than their salaries,” Sodsri said.
“Higher salaries won’t help solve the corruption problem. Serious scrutiny is more important to tackle the problem,” she said.