CDC delays finalisation of political party organic law
The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has postponed its plan to complete and release the organic political party bill to later this week due to the complexity of the content, CDC spokesperson Norachit Sinhaseni said yesterday.
Norachit spoke after CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said earlier yesterday that the bill should have been released today.
The spokesperson said this was because some issues still had to be amended, such as regulations on party membership registration, ceiling on party funding and asset declaration as well as penalties against the violation of these regulations, he said.
However, the spokesperson insisted that the 124-article bill will not force parties to re-register, meaning current party executives will continue holding their positions. Yet, some changes may still be done based on the soon-to-be-promulgated charter.
Once completed, the draft will be made public via the CDC website, Norachit said.
The CDC will also hear comments from the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) for any possible amendments before it sends the final draft to the NLA for further process as designated by the new charter.
According to the government’s latest timeline, the CDC should complete the drafting of 10 essential organic laws within eight months after the charter draft is released and the laws should receive royal endorsement by February.
Top priority has been placed on four organic laws, namely the ones on political parties, election, source of the Senate and the Election Commission. The are expected to be written by the CDC and delivered to the NLA for deliberation six months after the charter goes into effect.
The next general election should be held 150 days after these four laws have been enacted.
According to the charter drafters, changes made to this most recent bill will lessen dominating influences on parties and hence ensure greater participation.