Three tipped to head charter panel.

Three tipped to head charter panel.

MONGKOL BANGPRAPA

Debate over who will become chairman of the Constitution Drafting Council (CDC) has intensified as the 100-member council is set to select its head at its first convention on Monday. Currently, Sawat Chotipanich, Noraniti Setthabutr and Aran Thammano are seen as potential candidates.

Mr Sawat is a retired Supreme Court chief justice, Mr Noraniti is a former secretary-general of King Prajadhipok's Institute, and Mr Aran is a former finance permanent secretary who headed a probe of government officials implicated in the alleged Shin Corp tax-dodge case.

Council member and election commissioner Sodsri Satayatham said the CDC chairman must be politically neutral and able to meet the tight six-month timeframe set for drafting the charter.

The Election Commission had been gathering the views of parties, independent agencies and other stakeholders.

The agency was also ready to organise a referendum on the charter as soon as the drafting process was completed.

Vicha Mahakhun, a council member and national counter corruption commissioner, said the chairman must have expertise in legal issues and be neutral, open-minded and decisive.

Mr Vicha was confident that drafting could be done in 180 days if the process was planned well and the members did not go into too much detail.

The council members, who turned up at parliament on the first registration day yesterday, agreed that the 1997 constitution, which was abrogated after the coup, should serve as a blueprint for the charter.

Apichart Damdee, who represents the social sector, said the charter would not start from square one but would be an ''amended version'' of the 1997 constitution, hailed as the people's charter due to wide public participation in its drafting process. He said parts of the revoked 1997 constitution that should be revised included the definition of an independent agency, parts concerning inquiries into the prime minister's actions, and public access to the state's checks-and-balances system.

The swearing-in ceremony of the CDC members will be held on Monday, when they will also choose the council's chairman and vice-chairman.

Then the council will select 25 members to sit on the 35-member constitution drafting panel.

Council for National Security (CNS) secretary-general Vinai Patthiyakul said the CNS would take only a few days to appoint another 10 experts to the panel. He brushed aside concerns over CNS influence in drafting the charter, saying it was not the CNS's intention to spark a public uproar.

Bangkok Post
Thursday January 04, 2007