NLA criticises organic law rush
THE NATIONAL Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday held a seminar to prepare its members for the deliberation of organic laws following concerns over the limited time frame to finish that process and, in particular, concerns over the nature of the laws, which are different from other legislation.
NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai labelled as rushed the 60-day time frame prescribed in the 2014 interim charter to deliberate on the organic laws.
It is crucial that the NLA members put extra effort into the process to meet the deadline for deliberating on the laws, he said.
NLA members will need to go on a retreat to get the job done, with special attention paid to deliberating on the four organic laws essential for organising the national election set for next year under the government’s road map, he added.
As part of yesterday’s seminar, NLA vice president Surachai Liengboonlertchai prepped legislators on the procedures for the legislation of the organic laws. He laid out the NLA’s method to work on the laws, with 10 committees to be formed to look at each of the 10 laws.
Each committee will comprise 30 to 35 members, a fifth of whom will be representatives from the governmental, private, and civil society sectors, Surachai added.
He said that during the retreat trip the committees would listen to all the proposed amendments to ensure continuity of the work and meeting the deadline.
The NLA vice president also explained that passing the organic laws was a different process to passing other legislation. To pass each reading, it requires a majority of the members, at least 126 out of 250, to agree on the amendment when other laws require only the majority of those present at the meeting, he said. If anyone were absent, it would be deemed that they were against the motion, Surachai said.
He said that after the NLA approved the organic laws, they would be forwarded to the Constitutional Court, the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) as well as relevant independent agencies.
If these parties saw any contradictions to the constitution in the passed organic laws, a committee of 11 – comprised of five members of the NLA, five CDC members and a chairman from a related organisation – would be formed to give recommendations to the NLA.
He said vetoing a recommendation required two-thirds of all the NLA members to vote against it. If that did not happen, the NLA would have accepted the recommendation and the organic law should be amended accordingly.