Charter draft done by end of June: Noranit
The drafting of the new constitution will be completed by June and a general election will be organised by the end of the year, Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) chairman Noranit Setabutr said yesterday.
He said the draft must be completed before June 30 and then forwarded for the CDA's approval. A referendum on the new charter would be held by August. The constitution's organic law on Senate and MP elections would be written before other laws, to prepare for the general election. "We have to follow this timeframe because the public want the general election so that the country can return to normal,'' he said. Noranit was speaking after Thai Ground Force leader, Likhit Dhiravegin, forwarded 20 changes that the constitution should include. Noranit said the proposals were useful and would be considered for the drafting process. Likhit still wants the number of constituency MPs to be 400, and 100 party-list MPs. He said there should be 200 senators, with 25 of them appointed. He wants the number of MPs needed for a censure motion to be launched against a PM to be one quarter of the total number of MPs - or 50,000 signatures to launch a censure motion. An Election Court should be established to rule on "yellow and red cards" given to those who break electoral rules. And he said MPs should be allowed to resign from parties without losing MP status. The prime minister should be elected by MPs through a secret vote, but the PM and ministers should not lose their MP status after assuming those posts. Likhit also sent his suggestions to PM's Office Minister Theerapat Serirangsan, who said he would give Cabinet members Likhit's suggested changes for consideration.
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