THAILAND: Charter pledge on PM urged

Media reform one of major issues to be considered in new constitution

Bangkok Post
Monday, December 18, 2006

By Anjira Assavanonda

The People's Assembly for Political Reform (PAPR) yesterday demanded the new constitution, being drafted under the watch of the Council for National Security (CNS), state that the prime minister must come unconditionally from an election.

Comprising former members and supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) -- which held months of mass protests calling for the ouster of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- the PAPR is conducting a campaign calling for a charter that would give more power to the people and reduce state dominance.

The group called for the CNS to maintain the key principles of the 1997 constitution.

"The CNS has no right to change the will of the 1997 constitution, and Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin as CNS chairman should stop saying things to sway charter-drafters on whether a prime minister should come from an election or not," said Pibhop Dhongchai, a PAPR leader.

The group is preparing to draft its own charter parallel to that of the Constitution Drafting Council (CDC) to make sure that key principles of the 1997 constitution -- viewed as the best charter in the country's history in terms of guaranteeing people's rights and freedom of expression -- would remain intact.

Suriyasai Katasila, another core leader of the PAPR and secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said the people's charter would cut state authority and curb the prime minister's power while strengthening civil society.

Key issues to be addressed in the new constitution include the election of the prime minister and a proposed overhaul of independent organisations under the constitution to make them free from political interference.

Other major issues include media reform, eradication of money politics and conflict of interests, and reform of the education, economic and justice systems.

The PAPR is now approaching legal experts to sit on its own charter drafting panel that will mirror the official CDC. They included former charter writer Kanin Boonsuwan, Thammasat University law lecturer Parinya Tevanarumitkul, Chulalongkorn University political science lecturer Chaiyan Chaiyaporn, and former senator Niran Pitakwatchara.

The PAPR draft is expected to be completed by April next year, and will be publicised in every sector.

The group meanwhile said it thought little of the work of the CNS and the interim government in its first three months since seizing power from the elected Thai Rak Thai government on Sept 19. "We can see the goals of the CNS, that there'll be a new constitution, a general election and a new government, but we still can't see the way to get there," Mr Suriyasai said."They lack solutions to many problems and this could lead to public scepticism of the CNS over the next year."

Some policies put in place by the deposed Thaksin government, such as those promoting university autonomy and free-trade agreements, have been redeemed rather than being scrapped, he said.

Somkiat Pongpaiboon, also a PAPR leader, urged the interim government to scrap the policy to remove public universities from state control. He said it could exclude the poor from the university system.

The Thai-Japan trade agreement should also be scrapped, he said, as it went against the government's sufficiency economy policy. The State Enterprise Capital Act could allow the sale of the nation's property, and should meet the same fate.

The interim government, said Mr Somkiat, must be careful because public expectations were high. "Since it has committed to hold a general election in October next year, the government has no more than 10 months of work left to prove itself," he said.

Labour leader Somsak Kosaisuk said many of the government's policies seemed to contradict the principle of sufficiency economy, and worse, appeared to be ideas "inherited" from the Thaksin era.

"While endorsing the sufficiency economy theory, they still maintain many policies that seem tied to the capitalist economy," he said. "University autonomy, the digit lottery systems and privatisation of state enterprises are just a few examples," he said.

Date Posted: 12/18/2006

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