National Legislative Assembly (NLA) chief Pornpetch Wichitcholchai has urged lawmakers to carefully deliberate all 10 organic laws within what he acknowledges to be a tight time frame.
Speaking at an NLA seminar in preparation for vetting the organic laws at parliament Monday, Mr Pornpetch said the NLA will have 60 days to deliberate the organic laws, and they must do so with the utmost care to ward off any future problems in the interpretation of the laws.
He conceded NLA members would be pressed for time. However, they must accomplish the goal so the government's "roadmap" and the general election, expected at the end of next year, can proceed without a hitch.
Experts deliberating the laws must sacrifice their time, which means working outside office hours so the time frame remains intact, he said.
Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) vice-chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said the law governing the Election Commission (EC) alone consists of 67 sections with emphasis on the qualification of EC members.
For example, persons must hold positions in state agencies or state enterprises at the levels of director-general, judges or prosecutor for 10 consecutive years, or have been a professor for at least five years, or have been involved in election administration for at least 20 years to qualify to be election commissioners.
Referring to the draft law governing political parties, CDC spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said the drafters had no intention of sabotaging parties by "resetting" them.
The draft organic law, in fact, ensures easy formation of parties, he said.
During the transitional period, registered parties must keep the number of members, branches and provincial representatives in line with the law.
Founders of a political party must pay at least 2,000 baht each as proceeds for creating the entity.
These conditions must be satisfied by those seeking to set up a party and those who already have a party within 90 days of the law coming into force, otherwise the parties will be dissolved, Mr Norachit said.
A panel in charge of selecting the members of independent agencies will examine whether existing EC members have proper qualifications for the post, he said, adding those who are unqualified will stay in office until new members are selected to replace them.
NLA vice-president Surachai Liangboonlertchai said the 10 organic laws will be deliberated individually by a panel of 30-35 members.
Each panel will also have 6-7 representatives from the cabinet, the National Reform Steering Assembly, the CDC and independent agencies, he said.
Meanwhile, Political Development Council (PDC) member Krissada Haiwatananukul said the organic law governing elections fails to spell out issues related to public participation.
There is nothing to confirm that parties which people chose will select candidates they support.
He was speaking at a seminar held Monday by the PDC at the Government Complex.
NLA member Tuang Attachai said it was evident that many people tended to focus on national politics and pay little attention to more grassroots politics.
Work has been carried out to strengthen state authorities, which weakens civil society, he said.
The key to addressing people's problems is to create public participation, Mr Tuang said.
Pongthep Thepkanjana, a leading Pheu Thai figure, said that to boost public participation, political parties should be allowed to gather as many members as they can, but the law places many restrictions.
