endorsement from the National Reform Council (NRC)
with the help of some face-to-face political lobbying,
an NRC insider says.
The source said the 36-member Constitution Drafting
Committee (CDC) has assigned 20 of its members to
specifically lobby the NRC to vote in favour of the blueprint
charter, which comes as the draft faces mounting criticism.
Each CDC member has been tasked with persuading eight
NRC members, meaning it plans for at least 160 council
members to lodge votes of support.
The proposed charter will fail unless it receives a majority
of yes-votes from the NRC -- at least half of its 249 members.
The source said the expected 160 votes will be more than enough.
Battle joined: Activists begin campaign
against charter
The NRC will vote on the draft on Sept 6. If
the NRC approves
the draft, a referendum on it is expected to be held in
January.
Another
government source was also confident the
draft charter
will get the stamp of approval from the NRC as well as clearing
the final referendum hurdle. The government source believed
this draft charter would
gain more support than the 2007 one.
In the 2007 charter referendum, the draft
received more than
14.7 million votes in favour, while votes against it
numbered
about 10.7 million.
However, it was later abrogated by the military
leaders who
staged the coup on May 22 last year.
While strongly criticising the
current draft charter, former
Pheu Thai MP Udomdej Rattanasathian Wednesday
predicted
that the NRC will eventually approve the document.
Mr Udomdej said when it comes to holding a
referendum,
the military-led government was expected to mobilise and make
the
most of its resources to smooth the way for the draft charter
to pass the referendum -- just as in 2007.
The CDC held a press conference to explain the draft charter
process to reporters. CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno
stressed that the draft charter is aimed at mending the political
divide and preventing future conflicts.
The draft charter gives the public more rights and freedoms
than the 1997 and 2007 charters did while pushing for reform
and fostering national unity, Mr Borwornsak said.
He said the country is currently in a transition to full democracy
and the so-called "crisis panel", or the National Strategic Reform
and Reconciliation Committee, needs to be established with
special powers to ensure a smooth transition.
The proposed committee is designed to prevent a crisis during
the switch to democracy and to ensure that the new charter will
not be "torn up" again, Mr Borwornsak said.
The committee's special powers will last five years after the
new charter is enacted. After five years, the country will enjoy
fully-fledged democracy, he said. The CDC chairman also urged
the public to look at the big picture and the overall benefits
the draft charter will offer, rather than measuring its worth
through specific sections. CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn
said Thailand's political situation was unique.
There was a need for a "special tool" to prevent a severe crisis,
Mr Kamnoon said. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon
said Wednesday that tool was the crisis panel.
"The committee will get involved only after the country is
at a dead end. We don't want a coup to take place again,"
he said.
"The panel will step in when the country is in such a crisis
that the use of the Internal Security Act and the executive
decree for administration in an emergency situation cannot
resolve it. The prime minister will chair the committee,"
Gen Prawit said.
Gen Prawit rejected the suggestion that the crisis panel could
become a "state within a state" in times of political crisis,
arguing that the committee's duties would not overlap with
those of the executive branch.
Commenting on mounting calls for the NRC to reject the draft
charter, Gen Prawit said it was up to the council to decide
whether the crisis panel was acceptable or not when it
votes on Sept 6.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed Wednesday
that if the draft charter is allowed to pass the NRC, it was
also likely to win public endorsement.
News,Politics,Bangkok Post,27 August 2015.
In my viewpoint,the crisis panel is to prevent the country
from the coup,that is the good point of it that it should be
accept ,otherwise I think we can not advoid the cycle
of coup again.
The point is to set the duty , authorities and power of the crisis
panel clear enough not to interfere with the government power
to run the country and advoid the conflict of interest between
the cabinet and the crisis panel.
Hope the draft constitution past the endorsement of the NRC
and the past the public referendum.
Sincerely Yours.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น