Counter-corruption offices set for provinces
The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) was forced by a majority vote of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) yesterday to set up the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) at the provincial level and make it more accountable.
Meanwhile, consensus was reached in limiting the power of the Election Commission (EC). The CDA closely voted 35 to 32 to endorse a proposal made by CDA member Karun Sai-ngam, to set up provincial level counter-corruption offices in order to reduce the workload of the central commission, and offer opportunities for local people to play a role in the body. However, Karun failed to raise the minimum requirement for members of the House of Representatives to lodge a complaint against the NCCC. The drafting committee proposed no less than one-fourth of the members of the House - or no less than 20,000 petition signatures. Karun proposed reducing the ratio to no less than one-fifth. Karun's proposal was rejected in the CDA vote. But the former senator was successful when the rule for lodging a complaint against the NCCC at the Supreme Court was reduced after a CDA vote from one-fourth of the total number of the existing members of both Houses to one-fifth. "In the past, it has been difficult to scrutinise them, hasn't it?" Karun told fellow CDA members just before the voting took place.
Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
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