Thread: Thailand : PPP agrees to an extensive rewrite of charter

PPP agrees to an extensive rewrite of charter
Fri, March 28, 2008


The ruling People Power Party (PPP) yielded on Friday to pressure from its leader, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, for extensive amendments to the Constitution.

The PPP meeting agreed to amend the charter on many issues, including the provisions in Article 237, party spokesman Kuthep Saikrajang said.

He said the charter changes could pave the way for a move to seek amnesty for the 111 banned executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, including exPM Thaksin Shinawatra.

PPP meeting on Friday assigned PM's Office Minister Choosak Sirinan, the party's chief legal adviser, to form a team to prepare the draft amendments. The party was expected to file an urgent motion in April for the House deliberation of the draft and might call an extraordinary Parliamentary session if necessary, according to the spokesman.

The amendment process was likely to take about three months, he said.

On Monday, the government whips coordination committee, which is dominated by the PPP, resolved to seek amendment to Article 237.

The clause allows a political party to be dissolved at an order of the Constitution Court if its executives are found to be aware of or abet electoral fraud committed by a party election candidate.

Prime Minister Samak earlier yesterday pushed for extensive amendments to the Constitution, saying that it was written with the hidden goal of undermining the People Power Party.

"The Constitution has been used not only as a trap for the political party they hate, but also as a tool to weaken people in this party. They want to kill the party," Samak said, referring to people he claimed to have pulled strings behind the charter writing.

He said the attempt to "kill the party" continued even after the People Power won the general election and formed the government.

Samak said he would tell his colleagues in the People Power Party the amendment would not involve only one clause.

"When it comes to changes, we will have to make as many changes as possible. This is not selfishness. We will just do it for the sake of the country," he said after the weekly Cabinet meeting.

The prime minister said that most of his Cabinet colleagues from the coalition parties agreed with him that changes should not involve only on section of the charter.

The premier said there would be no public referendum about charter amendments as the expected cost of Bt2 billion would be too costly. And he would not dissolve Parliament after the amendments.

In a related development, the opposition Democrat Party yesterday resolved in a unanimous vote that it was against the bid to amend Article 237 as "it was obvious that the move was aimed at selfserving interest," said deputy party leader Banyat Bantadtan.

House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat, who is also a People Power executive, has been at the centre of legal proceedings that could result in the party being dissolved. The Election Commission (EC) disqualified him as an MP and is seeking a Supreme Court endorsement for its decision.

If given endorsement, the EC is required by law to forward the case to the Constitution Court in order to rule whether the People Power should be disbanded.

Samak yesterday defended Yongyuth, saying he was framed for the electoral fraud charges and that people were hired to wrongly implicate him.

Meanwhile, EC member Prapun Naigowit yesterday ruled out the allegation that the agency was bent on destroying the ruling People Power Party by citing the electoral fraud as a pretext.

"There is no written script nor conspiracy to fault any party and the EC is doing its job strictly in accordance with the law," he said.

Prapun was reacting to remarks by coalition leaders raising concern on the leeway to dissolve a party.

Although it was up to political parties to decide whether to amend Article 237 of the Constitution, this provision on party dissolution was nothing new as it was enforced since the suspended 1997 Constitution and its organic laws, he said.

The leeway allowed under the present charter was about the party's linkage to the fraud, he said, adding that not every case of campaign violations linked to the party would lead to disbandment.

He said the EC would not link its work to the ongoing move to amend the charter.

nationmultimedia.com

jesus, is this guy real ?

would appear that it's all going to plan ,

question is who's ........................

Originally Posted by Butterfly

jesus, is this guy real ?

They are well aware of what they are doing.

'A nation of sheep will always create a government of wolves' (sic) People such as these will continue to perpetuate, and profit from, lack of eduacation. It isn't lack of information, as it is widely available but under-utilised. What staggers me is the lack of compassion they hold for their people. Their smugness and swaggering mirrors the Bush regime.

It is the old British colonial philosophy of 'Divide and Rule'

Trouble is, no-one reads anymore.

What the World needs is a benevolent dictatorship. And I'm going to get another pitcher of beer because it is all so depressing.

PM cites misunderstanding on article 309
BREAKING NEWS


(BangkokPost.com) - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej stance on amending article 309 of the constitution has shifted slightly.

On Sunday morning, he explained to the public that problems linked with this issue stemmed from a misunderstanding within the People Power party (PPP).

"I was abroad and was not present at the party meeting so there was a slight misunderstanding," he said. "From now on, only the PPP's committee dealing specifically on the constitution amendment will deal with the issue."

The premier then stood firm on an earlier statement that there were people trying to overturn the government.

"When I made my suspicions public, these people tried to find fault with me by citing article 157 of the constitution about government officials shirking their responsibilities," he said.

bangkokpost.com

PPP set to begin constitution amendment
BREAKING NEWS


(BangkokPost.com) - People Power party (PPP) officials said on Tuesday the party will start a fast-track process to amend the constitution by presenting a list of proposed changes, signed by at least 96 names to the Senate Speaker on Wednesday.

The process to request constitution amendment must go through the Senate speaker, because the House speaker has been suspended from his duties.

The party will file a motion to ask for the meeting of both the upper and the lower houses in order to begin the process of altering the charter.

PPP MP Worawat Ua-pinyakul said the process is expected to be completed within three months.

He added that PPP hopes the constitution amendments will be completed before the Constitution Tribunal hands down the rulings on alleged electoral frauds against PPP, Matchimathipataya and Chart Thai parties.



Ready, set, amend
(BangkokPost.com)


People Power party (PPP) officials on Tuesday said they are ready to begin a fast-track process which will amend five important articles of the constitution within 90 days.

The Democrat Party will fight them at every step.

snip

bangkokpost.net


...................................

'Rewrite it all'
(BangkokPost.com)

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said on Tuesday the whole 2007 constitution should be amended.

Mr Samak said he is confident that chaos will not arise as a result of the charter amending process. He described altering the constitution as a "common practice".

He also indicated the changes will be made by the government, approved by the parliamentary majority - without a public referendum.

Last August, the military junta then in charge of the country conducted a nationwide referendum said to cost two billion baht. It was the first referendum ever held for Thailand, which has had 17 constitutions since the abolition of the absolute monarchy in 1932.

Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Suebwonglee confirmed that the ruling People Power party has passed a resolution to amend the entire charter.

He said the decision of the party will be forwarded to the five coalition parties next week for further discussion. Their support will be necessary for parliament to approve the amendments.

He added that it is still unknown how long the process will take.

bangkokpost.net

Originally Posted by Michael

People such as these will continue to perpetuate, and profit from, lack of eduacation.

Not like us eduacated folk, eh?

CHARTER AMENDMENTS

Noppadon denounces Article 237
Published on April 15, 2008

Says it goes against Buddhist religious tenets

The proposed constitutional amendments will be participatory and touch virtually all aspects of the draft, so that politics will become stable and attract more foreign investment, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.

Noppadon, who is on an official visit to Beijing, tried to calm fears that the ruling People Power Party (PPP) would single-handedly amend the 2007 junta-sponsored Constitution.

He said nothing would stop the government from amending the charter, however. Noppadon is also deputy secretary of the PPP.

The government has been under attack for many weeks for its decision to amend the charter, especially Article 237, which in effect states that if a party executive is found guilty of electoral fraud, then the political party of which the executive is a member should be disbanded.

Critics see the move as an act of self-preservation, and a PPP deputy leader is facing such a charge.

The foreign minister criticised Article 237 as unsound.

"This Article 237 has never existed in Thai history. It's against religious teaching for someone to commit a wrongdoing and then someone else pay for it," Noppadon said.

"Punishment should be reserved for the one who has committed the crime. So any party executive who committed an offence should be punished, but the party should not be disbanded. Otherwise, people could try to have parties dissolved," said Noppadon.

Other issues highlighted by Noppadon for the charter amendment are removing politicians from the selection process of independent organisations under the Constitution.

Noppadon added that although PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat was facing electoral-fraud charges, Yongyuth was still fighting the case in the Supreme Court.

nationmultimedia.com

SNOH'S CHARTER WARNING
Govt risks being hit by tidal wave

Administration 'could be toppled' if it takes the matter lightly


Published on April 17, 2008




Pracharat Party leader Snoh Thienthong yesterday warned the government to be careful how it proceeds in amending the Constitution, saying it risks being overthrown if it takes the matter lightly.

Snoh was speaking as he welcomed the press to his home during the Songkran festival. He said he foresaw tidal waves ahead for the government.

"The ship itself is having internal conflicts and the captain is facing his own problems," he said.

He warned the ship could sink before it is even hit by a big wave, because of the attempt to amend the Constitution. "It is not a game. If the government is not careful, the ship will sink and will be hard to retrieve," he said.

However, Snoh added that some amendment of the charter was inevitable but refused to say which articles needed attention. He said the charter-drafters who wrote the law had been prejudiced against politicians.

"They do not realise that there are both good and bad politicians. The Constitution blocks politicians from carrying out their roles. Now even good politicians cannot come in to help the country. Do not listen to a few people if you want to amend the Constitution," he said.

Siriwan Noksuan, an academic from Chulalongkorn University's Political Science department, warned politicians not to create conditions that may lead to conflict and violence in their plan to amend the Constitution.

"The move should not be for self-interest and the amendment should be considered in all provisions with public participation, by appointing outsiders from all sectors to reduce the pressure from opponents," she said.

Siriwan voiced her opposition to organising a public referendum om any constitutional amendment, saying it would too expensive to do so and public hearings should be enough.

She supported the move to amend Article 237, saying the provision deprives the basic rights of party executives by having to shoulder responsibility for an executive who commits an offence. The law also affects political stability and destroys the political mechanism, she said.

Siriwan disapproves of amending Article 309, because the attempt could lead to a coup since it is believed it would destroy any checks on corruption.

The former president of the Constitution Court, Kramol Thongthammachart, said lawmakers must ensure they do not destroy the sacredness of the law, as laws could be changed for vested interests.

"The move has been criticised so much because people believe MPs are doing it to help parties that face extinction," he said.

He said if MPs wanted to amend only certain articles, their attempt would be in vain because of social opposition.

"They have to amend the Constitution systematically and with sincere objectives to benefit the public," he said.
Kramol disapproved of conducting a public referendum before any amendment, saying it should be done after the draft has been completed.
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