A prime minister coming from direct vote, the absence of populist policies and primary votes are among the key proposals submitted to the National Reform Council (NRC) to consider using as its groundwork.
The reform blueprint of the Permanent Secretary for Defence Office was unveiled for the first time and submitted to the NRC this week.
It was based on proposals gathered by a reform-preparations working panel set up shortly after the coup and led by Gen Surasak Kanchanarat.
Matichon Online summarised on Friday some interesting points of the blueprint, especially on politics, which could give some ideas on where the reforms are headed.
Parliament
Two types of the National Assembly or Parliament were proposed.
In the first type, people are allowed to elect the prime minister directly at the same time they vote for MPs.
In the second type, the PM is indirectly voted and three models are proposed for this.
The first is a single parliament, with only the House of Representatives.
The second is dual houses, either the House of Representatives and the Senate like at present or the House and the People's Council which is made up of representatives of professions, blocks of provinces and groups of government officials.
The third is triple houses: the House, the Senate and the People's Council.
Political parties
People should be able to enter the party system easily and free of influence from wealthy groups.
Candidates should be screened by political parties. People should be allowed to have a say such as proposing or opposing them.
A rule must be laid down to prevent parties from paying MPs to vote on a motion or attend a meeting.
The Election Commission (EC) should be allowed to screen the proposed policies of a party to make sure they are not populist, which could damage the country or affect people.
A party's proposed policies must not incur expenditures in excess of the central budgets over the next four years.
House of Representatives
A voter should be at least 20 years old, the legal age under the Civil and Commerce Code, rather than 18 at present.
An MP candidate is not required to be a member of a party to widen the choice of voters.
A candidate should be between 30 and 70 years old and there should be no limitation on his education.
Each candidate should be screened in a primary vote by people in an area.
He must also be seconded in writing by at least 200 people in his constituency.
An MP cannot be serve more than two consecutive terms.
A person convicted of lese majeste should not be allowed to run.
If the number of "No" votes exceeds those gained by the winner, a new election must be called.
Advance voting (before the dates set for votes outside the kingdom and provinces) should be scrapped because it is vulnerable to corruption.
Two rounds of voting will be held. In the first, a candidate winning more than 50% of all votes will be considered the winner. But if the winner fails to get more than half, the first and the second will contest again and whoever gets more than half is the winner.
Senate
Senators will come from election and nomination from profession groups. The number must be the same as that of MPs for proper checks and balances.
A candidate should be 50-70 years old with no limits on education but they must not be members of political parties.
Prime Minister and ministers
Two proposals were floated on where a premier should come from.
A PM may come from an election - by party list, direct vote or indirect vote by MPs.
He/She may also be a nominated outsider endorsed by the National Assembly. He could be removed in the same way as MPs and senators.
Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions
An election court and a corruption court are proposed.
Political cases should have no statute of limitations and politicians should not have immunity during meeting sessions.
Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court must be restructured. They should become justices with the prerogative to consider certain issues instead of a court with a nine-year term like at present.
The judges should be divided into two groups to rule on general and special cases.
The court should not have the power to rule in disputes between organisations. They should just interpret laws in cases where doubts emerge they may violate the constitution.
Election Commission
The Election Commission should be restructured to have more diverse members such as judges, politicians, experts or professionals.
The provincial EC should comprise the provincial judge or administrative court judge.
National Anti-Corruption Commission
Politicians should have the same weight in the NACC screening committee as people from other fields.
People's politics
People should be allowed to join the government in checks and balances and to take part in development.
