House passes second section of charter bill

House passes second section of charter bill

Senators to get green light to seek re-election

Parliament yesterday approved Section 2 of the charter amendment bill, which deals with the make-up of the Senate.

The joint session between MPs and senators passed Section 2 by 349 votes to 157, with 27 abstentions and one no-vote.

Section 2 stipulates the amendment will take effect one day after it is published in the Royal Gazette. The change will mean all 77 current elected senators, whose terms expire on March 7 next year, will be able to seek re-election.

The current charter prohibits senators from serving consecutive terms.

The 13-section charter amendment bill would also do away with appointed senators and require all senators to be elected.

Before the joint sitting resumed yesterday morning, the government, opposition and senate whips met and agreed that all 57 lawmakers who were barred from the debate on Tuesday would be allowed to speak.

Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont on Tuesday asked the chamber to vote if it would allow 57 lawmakers to debate their proposed changes to the charter amendment.

The meeting voted 339 against the request by the 57 lawmakers while only 15 voted in support and parliament erupted in chaos.

As the session proceeded, the group demanded they should be allowed to debate Section 1 of the bill.

But Mr Somsak and Senate Speaker Nikhom Wairatpanich denied the request on the grounds that Section 1 had been approved.

Both insisted the group would be allowed to debate their proposed changes starting from Section 2.

Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol said yesterday the whips agreed that while all 57 lawmakers should be allowed to debate their proposed changes, they would have to start at Section 2. Some took part in the Section 2 debate yesterday.

Mr Charoen said the whips did not discuss Tuesday's commotion and urged each other to ask their members to keep protests to a minimum.

It was initially agreed the second reading of the bill should be concluded tonight by about 10pm, he said.

Chief opposition whip Jurin Laksanavisit blamed Mr Somsak for the commotion especially after the deployment of anti-riot police at parliament.

He accused Mr Somsak of following orders from an outside party, which compromised his ability to conduct the session in a straightforward way.

He said the opposition disagreed with the bill because it believed the government was attempting to seize backdoor control of the Senate.

"It is a case of 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'. It is a trade-off between the government and some senators," Mr Jurin said.

"It seeks to allow the spouses and children of current senators to stand for election. We believe it is not right and it is a case of major political collusion that should not be allowed to proceed without scrutiny," he said.

Yesterday's session closed at about 10.15pm with no further disorder.

Amnuay Khlangpha, chief government whip, said the session will continue today but if it cannot be wrapped up today it would resume next week.

He said the House will resume the debate on the 2014 Budget Bill tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Pol Maj Gen Parinya Chansuriya, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said riot police yesterday remained outside the parliament compound.

He said the parliament police had asked the MPB to help provide security around parliament because they had been called into the chamber.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (1)