One term only for senators, but no decision yet on their election
The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) yesterday agreed to bar senators from holding office for two consecutive terms - and to prohibit them from holding the post of minister or MP within a year of their term ending.
However, the controversial issue of whether the Senate should be elected or appointed was deferred. That key matter will be decided during a six-day special meeting at Bang Saen in Chon Buri. During the debate, most of 35 members backed a condition from the defunct 1997 charter that a senator should hold a six-year term and keep away from being swayed by political parties or the government. They agreed that the senators should not have a chance to run for a second consecutive term. The drafters said senators might not dare check the government or Lower House members if they still needed a voter base from politicians for a second campaign. Moreover, the senators should be held from assuming positions in the Lower House or as a minister for at least one year after their term. That condition, the panel noted, was to prevent them from not scrutinising the government in return for receiving a political office after their term was over. The panel decided to leave the unsettled issue - if the senators should be elected, appointed or mixed - to be finalised at their meeting at the luxurious Tide Resort in Bang Saen from tomorrow until Wednesday. Meanwhile, the CDC concluded that a senator or an MP who faces a jail term would be dismissed only when the case ended at the Supreme Court. Most members agreed that it would be unfair for MPs to be sacked by the Criminal Court, despite having the right to appeal.
Weerayut Chokchaimadon The Nation
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