New law on village chiefs ‘a long way off’

THE proposal to slash the terms of tambon chiefs, or kamnans, and village heads to just five years still has a long way to go, National Legislative Assembly (NLA) president Pornpetch Vichitcholchai said yesterday.
If the Cabinet approved the draft, proposed by the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), it would have to be submitted to the NLA for another three rounds of readings before it could become law, he said. 
The Cabinet did not approve all of the proposal made by the NRSA, Pornpetch said, adding “if headmen disagree with the bill, they could voice their opinions”.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, while urging headmen of tambons and villages not to stage protests, said he remained undecided on the NRSA proposal and would have a working group study the matter. 
“Don’t worry, we have a check and balance system in the decision-making. If the majority agreed, we would continue. If fewer people agreed, we would have further study,” he said. 
The NRSA on Monday passed a proposal to amend the 1914 Local Administrative Law to enable direct elections and limit terms for tambon and village heads to five years. At present they can stay in office until they turn 60.
The proposal was opposed by kamnans and village heads in many major provinces. 
Seri Suwanpanon, chairman of the NRSA’s political reform panel, said yesterday that the committee responsible would revise the draft following the NRSA’s advice and forward it to Cabinet next week. 
Seri said there was no specific timeframe for the Cabinet to deal with the matter, but opinion hearings could be expected as required by the new Constitution. He said the legislation would benefit the public as a whole.
Former prime minister and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva backed the proposal, saying elections and limited tenures would improve the headmen’s sense of responsibility to their people.

‘Don’t like it, but won’t protest’ 
Meanwhile, Association of Headmen president Yongyos Kaewkhiew said yesterday that his members would not stage a protest, even though they would be |negatively affected by the new draft law.
Tambon and village chiefs would not cause trouble or threaten |security, he said, despite strongly disagreeing with some of the bill’s provisions, which had been written arbitrarily.
Yongyos said any legislation should not be retroactive, especially when it affects the association or its members. But since the NRSA had already passed the draft law, the headmen had to accept the decision, he said.