PM refuses to disclose charter schedule

PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday refused to spell out when details of the draft constitution, as revised following His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s observations, will be released.
Prayut said the public “should wait” and that the contents would be released “soon”, along with a schedule of when the King would return an endorsed charter draft.
His remarks came after a group of concerned citizens on Monday submitted a petition to the Ombudsman’s Office calling for scrutiny of the Cabinet, given that it had not published the revised draft despite it being completed. The act of alleged concealment could be deemed non-transparent and violating the code of ethics for governmental officials, the group said in its petition.
The government’s time frame on the revisions, following the King’s observations regarding the chapter on the monarchy, elaborated procedures such as amending the interim charter, setting up a special committee on amendments and returning the charter to the King – but did not say when exactly the amended charter would be publicised.
Deputy Premier Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, said earlier that the contents would be revealed soon but he also did not say when.
The original charter draft, written by the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), was approved by a majority vote in last August’s referendum. The King made observations on the charter draft a month later, with the government, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the charter drafters amending the charter accordingly.
Prayut returned the revised charter draft to the King on February 17 for royal endorsement, a vital step for the constitution to be promulgated. The King has 90 days to decide whether to endorse the draft.
Yesterday, the prime minister said again that the junta’s “road map to democracy” remained unchanged. “But things will be unfolded once the Royal funeral and the coronation are over,” he said. “These events are all unexpected.”
The cremation ceremony of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died last October, is expected to be held in December.
Meanwhile, CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said yesterday that the drafting of 10 organic laws required under the new constitution should take no more than 10 and a half months to complete after the charter is enacted. However, the charter stipulates that the laws must be finished within eight months after the charter’s promulgation.
Meechai said the NLA would probably take another two months to deliberate the draft laws, but an extension might be required if there are issues that the CDC and NLA have to decide jointly, he said.
The CDC will start by sending two organic laws on the Election Commission (EC) and political parties to the NLA, waiting for the assembly’s feedback and for the EC and political parties to prepare themselves accordingly. Then the commission will proceed with the organic laws regarding MPs and senators, the chief drafter said.
The election date will be within 150 days after those four organic laws are enacted, although scrutiny of election-related graft and by-election processes could delay the election results, he said.
But other organic laws will also be forwarded for the NLA’s deliberation each month, while the assembly will elaborate on the laws regarding the EC and the parties, he said.
Although the charter draft stipulates that the legislation process must include hearing people’s opinions, Meechai said that would probably not prolong deliberations. “The hearings can be done on websites,” he said.