Constitution draft rakes up touchy issues

Its transitional chapter calls for all announcements, orders and regulations issued by the Council for Democratic Reform, which toppled the Thaksin Shinawatra government in September 2006, to be repealed if they did not conform to the final version.

The proposed overhaul of the entire Constitution, which was written in the wake of the coup, excludes the first two chapters, which cover general provisions and the monarchy. The remainder would be replaced with the 1997 charter, which was scrapped after the coup. The draft also would require Buddhism to be declared the national religion. The controversial proposal, which will disturb the worshippers of other religions, had emerged during the drafting of the current charter but was left out of the final version.

The amendment bill, seen by The Nation yesterday, would make it easier to grill the prime minister.

The 1997 charter required at least two-fifths of the House of Representatives to initiate a censure motion against the prime minister, compared to a minimum one-fifth in the amendment proposed yesterday.

The draft also calls for all members of the Senate to be elected, but a transitional clause would allow the current appointed senators to remain in office for three years before their replacements were elected.