‘New breed senators’ want transparent elections of panel chairmen

The so-called “new breed senators” group on Saturday called for transparent voting for posts of chairmen of standing Senate panels.

Nanthana Nanthawaropas, a leader of the group, said members have been discussing how to amend Senate meeting regulations and how to adjust the number of standing Senate panels.

Mongkol Surasajja scheduled a meeting on August 2 after he was appointed by royal command as the Senate Speaker. On the meeting agenda was a plan to amend the Senate meeting regulations to deal with a reduction of the number of senators from 250 in the previous chamber to 200 in the current one.

The meeting would also discuss a reduction of the number of standing panels possible from 26 to 23.

Nanthana said members of her group had agreed that the elections of chairmen of standing panels should be made transparently instead of with secret balloting.

She said her group also agreed that any change to the meeting regulations should be done under a principle to allow the upper chamber to serve the public better.

Meanwhile, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, another member of the group, said her group disagreed with the reduction of the number of Senate standing panels.

For example, she said the Senate committee on social development and affairs related to children, juveniles, women, the elderly, the disabled and the underprivileged should be separated into two panels.

She said the disabled, the elderly, and ethnic minorities should have their own standing panels.

Angkhana said she did not know whether certain senators have reserved chairmanship on certain panels but she believed chairmen of Senate panels should have clear direction for their work.