New heads of state should be sworn in: Nitirat group

The Nitirat group of law experts came under fire yesterday for proposing charter amendments that would require a new head of state to be sworn in and vow to abide by and protect the constitution before assuming his post.

Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the police should look into the matter and determine if there was any legal violation.

"I have always called for people to help protect the monarchy. Everybody should lend a hand, particularly the mass media," he said. "People should follow the law. If what they are doing is not against the law, it is fine."

Komsan Phokong, a law lecturer at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said the proposal appeared to be intended to reduce the status of the monarchy. He said the practice of swearing in a new head of state was often used in presidential systems.

The Nitirat proposal was part of a 15-point guideline for constitutional amendments recommended by the group on Sunday.

Komsan said yesterday that the Nitirat group seemed to campaign in a manner that complemented the ideas and desires of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his red-shirt supporters.

"This proposal is aimed at changing the political system. It is similar to that of the Khanarat, which staged a coup in 1932" to overthrow absolute monarchy, he said.

The academic called on the group - which according to its website has seven members - to disclose the source of funds used in its active campaign for constitutional amendments and changes to Article 112 of the Penal Code involving lese majeste. "This is for the sake of transparency so that people can be assured the campaign has no hidden agenda," he said.

Komsan was a drafter of the current post-coup constitution and is a member of another group of academics, known as Sayam Prachapiwat, which is campaigning against amendment of the lese-majeste law. For Komsan, problems in Thai politics do not lie with the monarchy but have been caused mainly by capitalists' domination of political parties.

Senator Kamnoon Sithisamarn agreed that politicians were a major cause of political problems but said this was "the other side of the coin" that Nitirat failed to mention.

Kamnoon said yesterday that without reform by "capitalists who own political parties and turn democracy into parliamentary dictatorship", the Nitirat proposal would only boost such people's power in the name of democracy.

"I cannot tell if Nitirat is extremely innocent or super slick," the senator commented on his Facebook page.

Regarding the proposal for the head of state to be sworn in before assuming office, Kamnoon said His Majesty the King made his vow during his ascension ceremony in May 1950 by saying, "I will rule the land righteously for the benefit of the Siamese public".

Kamnoon said the King had strictly followed his vow throughout the 60-plus years on the throne, unlike many MPs, senators, and Cabinet members who failed to keep their vows made in Parliament or in front of the monarch.

Meanwhile, chief coalition whip Udomdej Ratanasathien said yesterday he wondered whether the Nitirat proposal would be accepted by the public. "We will have to listen to the majority," he said.