Thailand scraps elected council in charter rewrite shake-up
Public input to be gathered through hearings during drafting process
Thailand’s parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing constitutional amendments has scrapped plans to establish a directly elected advisory council, instead opting for a 35-member charter-drafting committee (CDC) to oversee the creation of a new constitution.
The decision was reached during a recent meeting finalising the structure of the drafting process. The advisory council, originally proposed in the opposition People’s Party’s amendment bill, was dropped following legal concerns and a ruling by the Constitutional Court that prohibits the election of a drafting assembly.
In its place, a parliamentary public-hearing committee will be set up to ensure citizen participation throughout the drafting process.
Parit Wacharasindhu, a list MP from the People’s Party and spokesperson for the committee, said the next challenge will be determining how the CDC members will be selected. The party has proposed a method where groups of 20 MPs nominate one candidate each for the drafting committee.
Parit said that while the vetting committee had yet to agree on this method, he remained hopeful and stated that further discussions would soon address the necessary qualifications for charter drafters.
The original version of the People’s Party’s proposal included two key components: a 35-member CDC to draft the constitution and a 100-member advisory council directly elected by the public. However, this structure was deemed inconsistent with the Constitutional Court’s earlier judgement.
Senator Noraset Prachayagorn, another committee spokesperson, said the removal of the advisory council was necessary to avoid potential legal obstacles and to prevent delays in the amendment timeline. He reassured the public that engagement will remain a priority, with multiple mechanisms allowing participation at various stages of the process.
Noraset also stated that safeguards will be introduced to shield the CDC from political interference, maintaining its independence during the drafting period.
Senator Phisit Apivatanapong, acting as an adviser to the committee, said that members aim to finalise the full draft content by tomorrow, November 14. Any unresolved issues are expected to be debated further between November 18 and 19, according to Bangkok Post.
The committee voted 22 to eight in favour of authorising the CDC to lead the drafting, and 22 to nine against forming the proposed advisory council.
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