NGOs to focus on new constitution
A campaign will be launched early next year for provisions to be included in the new Constitution to promote rural and local political participation, plus human rights.
The move will be undertaken by the Kingdom's largest alliance of non-government groups - the NGOs Coordinating Committee for Rural Development (NGO-COD), which links some 40 groups nationwide. Pairoj Polpetch, a leading human rights lawyer and NGO-COD member, said the alliance would soon launch an awareness campaign and distribute print materials to promote issues they deem vital to be included in the new Constitution. "Print material will be widely distributed and many forums and symposiums will be held," he said. The alliance is still in the process of finalising what issues would be put forward, but tentative lists have emerged. They include community forests, progressive taxation, reform of natural resource management, local participation in free-trade agreement talks and decision making, human rights and more. About 12 networks have been formed across the nation to come up with more details. Pairoj said the alliance refused to take part in the junta-led Constitution drafting because they considered the coup d'etat wrong. "But constitution drafting is important ... The lesson on applying the [1997] constitution over the years is that there are still many obstacles preventing it from becoming effective. "The biggest challenge is to increase people's awareness [about the importance of the Constitution]." Pairoj expects the coming months to be an opportunity for the public to learn more about Thai politics. "People will decide about the Constitution [through the referendum]," he said, adding the alliance may campaign for a "no" vote against the Constitution if the draft turned out to be "backward" or undemocratic. The eventual outcome - whether the charter is regressive or not - may depend on people's capacity to bargain with the junta, he said. NGO-COD would not work with the People's Alliance for Democracy on the matter, he said, due to their different stances on the coup and the role of the monarchy. The group will meet on Sunday to discuss whether to draft a parallel constitution as well.
Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
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