80% back charter draft; prefer coalition: survey
MORE THAN 80 per cent of the 77,160 people polled nationwide approve of the charter draft and want a coalition government as a potential solution to political conflicts, a Constitution Drafting Committee member said yesterday.
Thawilwadee Bureekul is also a National Reform Council member
The survey was jointly conducted by King Prajadhipok’s Institute and the National Statistics Office for the second time from May 1-31. It revealed that 86 per cent of respondents believe that in a crisis, MPs could vote in a non-elected PM with the support of at least two-thirds of MPs.
Another 89 per cent believe MPs should be independent of their party’s resolutions, 88 per cent don’t want more than 200 senators, 77 per cent support senators being elected with a senator from each province and the rest coming from an indirect election.
When asked if voters should be allowed to join forces to seek the impeachment of politicians and check agencies, 96 per cent said yes, while 93 per cent want the Constitutional Court to rule on issues related the authority of state agencies. Also, 89 per cent believe the Court of Appeals should be able to rule on election cases and disqualify MP and senatorial candidates.
As to possible solutions should the country hit national conflict after a general election, 17 per cent want a coalition government to tackle it, 11 per cent would prefer another coup, 10 per cent opted for a new general election and 9.8 per cent picked martial law.
When asked if protesters, with the exception of rally leaders and those who punished for corruption, lese majeste and criminal offences, should be granted amnesty for 2005-14 rallies, 52 per cent said yes, while 43 per cent said no. When asked the same question in the first survey 90 per cent of respondents approved such amnesty proposal.
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