The opposition People’s Party announced its dual-track approach to charter changes, by amending selected sections of the current Constitution while an elected charter drafting assembly prepares a whole new one.
Parit Wacharasindhu told the media today that the party believes that drafting a new charter will take longer than two years to complete, which may not be in time for the next general election.
The party has decided to propose selective amendment of the current charter, while the preparation of the new version is underway, in order to create a democratic atmosphere and enhance political stability before the next general election.
He said that the party has worked out seven charter amendment packages, some of which have already been proposed to the House Speaker for inclusion in the parliamentary agenda for debate.
These include the package to scrap the 20-year national strategy, initiated by the post-coup Prayuth Chan-o-cha administration.
This proposal involves the cancellation of all the announcements and orders by the military junta, otherwise known as the
“National Peace-Keeping Council”, and a provision to prevent future coups, by specifying that state officials will have the right to defy the orders coup makers, who will not be entitled to amnesty after staging a coup.
Other highlights of amendment packages include:
- Scrapping of mandatory conscription in peacetime and limited conscription when at war.
- Restrictions on the jurisdiction of the military court when the country is at war.
- The Constitutional Court and the other charter-mandated independent organisations will be stripped of their powers to judge the ethical standards of politicians, with such powers being vested in other organizations, which will be able to impose their own standards.
- Amendment of the Political Parties Act to make it easier to set up a party and to ease restrictions on party fund raising.
- A fast-track system, through which the public can file complaints against politicians with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, with a fixed 180 days for the commission to complete its investigation into a complaint.
