Thailand is heading toward its 20th constitution after the latest charter drafters were fully recruited last week ― but without any doubt this new constitution will be perceived as the junta’s charter.
Although the 36 members of the Constitution Drafting Committee were carefully selected by involved agencies, it could not be denied they were a product of the coup makers.
To begin with, agencies which were eligible to nominate the CDC members, such as the National Reform Council, National Legislative Assembly, and the Cabinet, were all appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order.
The NLA and NRC were given 25 of the seats in the CDC, or more than 50 per cent of its membership. The NCPO added five more positions plus one for the committee’s chairman, while the other five members were nominated by the Cabinet.
Obviously, drafters of the 2014 provisional charter considered the CDC members’ qualifications and shut the door on those against the coup.
Therefore, it appeared the NCPO had appointed every member, leading the public to voice concern that the new charter will be a tangible product of the military government.
CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno added more doubt to public suspicion about the new constitution when he outlined the drafting of the charter to other members in the committee’s first official meeting last week.
Furthermore, many drafters backed the idea proposed by the chairman that the new charter would be drafted from scratch.
Many also insisted that Article 35 in the Provisional Constitution, which stipulates that the CDC must draft the charter to include 10 framework issues, must be inserted in the new charter.
Up until this point, political observers still believed that many CDC members were seen as anti-Thaksin and they would draft the constitution to prevent his regime from rising again.
For these reasons, it would seem to confirm that the junta chief and Prime Minister, Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, together with the junta, already had ideas on the content to be included in the charter.
The question is, to what extent will this constitution be projecting the ideas of the people.
The essential contents of a charter in democratic countries include “popular sovereignty,” “limitation of government power,” and “institutional and procedural limitations on powers”.
Yet, sadly, this country is still failing to elevate its ideas of democracy to project the rights of the people.
In his TV address last Friday, “Return Happiness to the People,” Prime Minister Prayut provided guidelines to the charter drafters, saying the new constitution should be people-centered, fair, thorough, transparent, and most importantly, effective.
Following the prime minister’s order, the CDC has been setting up subcommittees and panels to listen to people’s opinions and suggestions.
However, that does not mean the charter will be a people’s charter. Just listening to the public does not ensure people will actually have a say, or take part in its composition.
Keeping the people safe, maintaining social stability and promoting reconciliation among conflicting sides are the junta’s work and it appears they have done it very well. Yet dictating a charter which projects people’s wishes is clearly not their job.
The military seized power this year, set up the government and appointed a PM, claiming they needed to curb the political chaos and unusual circumstances. However, their coup was opposed by some Thais and international communities as undemocratic.
The junta should turn the crisis into opportunity by opening its minds to accept all opinions from the public. If the junta cannot make people accept them by giving people rights as part of the constitution, certainly this will lead to further problems.
Therefore, this new charter will be a real test and challenge for the military junta to prove itself, whether it has the qualifications to be in charge and to govern this country or not.
Most importantly, the highest national law would prove the junta’s sincerity in staging the coup to solve the problems of the country.
By Nitipol Kiravanich
(The Nation)
(Asia News Network)
