POLITICS / GENERAL ELECTION, CABINET MEMBERS' WEALTH, UNUSUALLY RICH ALLEGATION : Chalit : Poll likely to be held by year-end

POLITICS / GENERAL ELECTION, CABINET MEMBERS' WEALTH, UNUSUALLY RICH ALLEGATION :

Chalit : Poll likely to be held by year-end.

Charter drafting won't take very long, he says

The general elections are likely to be called by the end of the year, according to Chalit Phukphasuk, deputy chief of the Council for National Security (CNS). He said the drafting of a new constitution will not take too long as most of its content will be modelled on the 1997 constitution. The charter drafters will only correct some weaknesses of the previous charter, to come up with an improved version.

ACM Chalit expected that a newly-elected government would be installed within this year as the CNS has already made arrangements for it.

He said the CNS is expected to appoint 10 people to sit on the 35-member Constitution Drafting Committee in the next 10 days. The 100-member Constitution Drafting Council (CDC) will select the other 25.

It is up to the charter drafting committee to pick its chairman, he said. He denied a report that Squadron-Leader Prasong Soonsiri would be appointed committee chairman.

ACM Chalit added that apart from scholars, members of the civic and social sectors are needed to add variety to the charter drafting committee.

Meanwhile, a royal decree has been issued, stipulating that the selection of 25 members of the charter drafting committee be completed within 20 days of the opening of the CDC's session on Jan 8. This means the selection must be done by Jan 27.

Under the decree, qualified candidates must be at least 25 years old and must not have belonged to any political parties for the past two years.

Two specialists will be selected from the state, private, social and academic sectors each.

The other 17 must have one of the following qualifications.

They must be either a professor or a professor emeritus in law, political science, and public administration, a former member of the Council of State, a former director-general or equivalent post-holder, a former parliamentarian, a former deputy attorney-general and above, a former member of the Supreme Administrative Court, or a former member of a committee tasked with drafting previous charters.

Decho Sawananont, vice-chairman of the CDC, said the high qualifications for candidates are necessary as writing a constitution requires technical knowledge. He said the drafting process is expected to get underway next month.

However, Chirmsak Pinthong, a CDC member, criticised the criteria for choosing only two specialists from each sector as being too narrow.

He said there are too many directors-general or equivalents, while associate professors specialising in constitutions should be given opportunities to help draft the new charter.

Bangkok Post
Saturday January 13, 2007