Amendment drafting committee established

BANGKOK, 14 October 2009 (NNT) – House Speaker Chai Chidchob had signed an order on the formation of a committee to draft amendments to the 2007 Constitution along with the six- key points as recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on National Reconciliation and Constitutional Amendments.

The drafting committee, chaired by Jareh Panpruang, comprises 9 officials of the law offices of the the House of Representatives and the Senate. The drafts will be drawn up in two ways. One draft will cover the six amended points while six other drafts, each incorporating different points, will also be made. The amending drafts would be presented to the meeting of the government, opposition and senate whips on 22 October for deliberation.

Mr Chai said he believed that the remaining Members of Parliament could proceed with the charter amendment without opposition Puea Thai Party’s participation as the process relied upon the majority of votes in democratic system.

The Opposition Puea Thai Party yesterday resolved to change its position on charter rewrite by boycotting the move to constitutional amendments and to campaign for the reinstatement of the 1997 constitution.

Opposition Chief Whip Witthaya Buranasiri last week stated that the Puea Thai Party still voiced support over the amendments on six key points as recommended by the Parliament Committee on Reconciliation and Constitutional Amendments. He cited that it should not only cover amendments to the six points but also the implementation of a comparison between the 1997 and 2007 charters.