Charter reform panel seeks to rein in state power

Thienchai na Nakorn, secretary of the panel's subcommittee on analysis of the constitutional structure for political reform, said yesterday that it had agreed to focus on three areas: relationships among political institutions, powers and duties of independent organisations, and distribution of power.

The subcommittee would also look into the power relationship between the state and the people, with the goal of designing a constitutional amendment that would "shrink the state and curb its over-encompassing powers and duties".

He said the panel also considered ways to reform the justice system by downsizing the police force, passing on part of its work to public prosecutors, freeing prosecutors from political intervention, and maintaining courts' independence and efficiency. "People should also be allowed more roles in scrutinising the three parts of the justice system," he said.

The constitutional reform committee, chaired by Professor Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, convened its third meeting at Government House yesterday afternoon, which lasted more than two hours.

Jade Dhonavanik, spokesman for the Sombat committee, told a press conference that of the six constitutional amendments the panel would initially focus on, the meeting participants yesterday came up with altered wording for Article 190, which requires any international agreement to be approved by Parliament. The panel agreed the clause should be rewritten to clarify which kinds of treaties require parliamentary endorsement, and when doubt arises, the matter should be referred to the Constitution Court for interpretation of the law.

He said the panel would discuss amendment to Articles 265 and 266, involving MPs and the scope of their power, at its next meeting next week.

Thawee Surarithikul, secretary of the subcommittee on public participation in constitutional amendment, said yesterday's meeting agreed to set up four working groups to coordinate the charter-change efforts. They are the working groups for Bangkok, the provinces, communication with the media, and academic work.

He said that after the six amendments are prepared, opinions from the public would be welcomed. The opinions collected during the government's recent "Six Days and 63 Million Ideas" campaign would also be taken into consideration in preparing the charter changes.

The Sombat panel has requested a budget of Bt20.45 million to complete its work, said Wuthisan Tanchai, the panel's secretary. He said the largest part of the fund, Bt15 million, would be spent on holding public hearings and gathering opinions, with the remainder for meeting allowances.

However, it remains unclear whether the requested fund will be approved in full by the prime minister, Wuthisan said.