Parliament split over charter changes

Rosana

The opposition Pheu Thai Party and minor parties in the government coalition joined a number of senators in backing proposed changes to the charter, while the ruling Democrat Party and other members of the Upper House opposed amendments.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told the gathering he sought the debate yesterday to hear views from MPs and senators about proposals by the parliamentary committee on reconciliation for political reform involving changes to the Constitution.

The joint sitting of the National Assembly was called by the Parliament president at the PM's suggestion, as per Article 179 of the Constitution, but no resolution had to be passed.

Senator Direk Tuengfang, chairman of the parliamentary committee, said the panel found certain clauses in the charter were unfair and it proposed six changes. He warned that charter changes were needed to ensure reconciliation and avoid "unprecedented severe problems".

MPs from Pheu Thai and other coalition parties voiced their support for changes, while Democrat MPs disagreed, arguing that the root cause of political problems did not rest with the Constitution.

The current Constitution was drafted in 2007 after the military staged a coup and ousted the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, who was accused by the coup-makers of abuse of power and the previous charter, written in of 1997.

But many politicians say clauses about political party dissolution are unfair, as an entire party is disbanded and all party executives stripped of their electoral rights for electoral law violations committed or condoned by one or a few party executives.

Chaiya Phromma, a Pheu Thai MP from Nong Bua Lamphoo, blamed the current charter for the ongoing division in Thai society. He said changes to the Constitution were needed urgently to prevent a "war of the people".

Somkiat Soralam, a Puea Pandin MP, said many clauses in the current charter were spurred by distrust of politicians and fear that fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra might return to power.

Somkiat recently filed a motion with a group of MPs and senators, seeking to change the charter. But the motion became void earlier this week when many parliamentarians withdrew support and left the number of supporters below the required minimum of 125 parliamentarians.

The Puea Pandin MP said yesterday he would seek support from parliamentarians again to resubmit a similar motion for charter changes.

Senator Rosana Tositrakul said fellow parliamentarians who backed the six proposed changes were trying to protect their interests. She said there were also flawed clauses involving rights and liberties of citizens but the government and politicians didn't seem to care about them.

In response to the argument that the charter needed to be amended because it was written after a coup, she said there are more than 500 laws still in effect that were written after previous coups.

Nipon Visityuthasat, a Democrat MP, said the current charter took many principles from the 1997 charter, which he said was "a good constitution". But many of the changes put forward by the Direk panel needed further discussion and views from the public.

Suchart Lainam-ngoen, a Pheu Thai MP from Lop Buri, praised the Direk panel for their "brave" proposals. He called for changes to the 2007 charter or for the 1997 model, which was repealed after the coup, to be reinstated.

Chavalit Vichayasut, another Pheu Thai MP, claimed there were attempts to delay changes to the constitution. He urged the government, particularly the Democrat Party, to support charter changes for the sake of reconciliation.