CONSTITUTION
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA
House Speaker Chai Chidchob yesterday gave five House sub-committees studying charter amendments another 30 days to work.
The sub-committees' 60-day deadline was Aug 18. The extension will delay government attempts to amend the 2007 constitution.
The government whip previously agreed to wait for the panels' findings before filing a charter amendment motion to parliament.
Critics say the amendments are designed to help former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra wriggle free of the corruption charges he faces.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej also faces charges that he violated the constitution by hosting a television cooking show.
The ruling People Power party (PPP) and its coalition partners, the Chart Thai and Matchimathipataya parties, could be dissolved by Constitution Court order for electoral fraud. Government attempts to amend the constitution are likely to address rules for dissolving parties, too.
The charter study is led by a committee headed by Kramol Thongthammachart, a former charter drafter.
Sixty members from the government and opposition whips make up the study sub-panels.
PPP Yasothon MP Peerapan Palusuk said the sub-committees should combine their findings by Sept 2, adding the extension should give the committee enough time to complete its work.
Another PPP MP Chaiwat Sapruangthong attributed charter flaws to the rise of the People's Alliance for Democracy protest group, which has laid siege to Government House.
Government insiders agreed the election system for both MPs and senators would be revamped.
The government is also likely to propose an amendment to make dissolving political parties more difficult.
Meanwhile, a bill on the proceedings of the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions was rejected on a vote in the House yesterday.
The bill sponsored by the Supreme Court was voted down by 146 to 85, with 40 abstentions.
MPs against the measure argued that the bill, which would make political post-holders stand trial in one court, the Criminal Division for Holders of Political positions, went against the rules of justice.
They said politicians, like anyone else, should be entitled to a right of appeal.
The House also accepted for deliberation the organic bill on Constitution Court proceedings, on a 318-3 vote.
A 36-MP panel was set up to scrutinise the bill.
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