Drafters clash over 'abusive' NHR workers
Bang Saen, Chon Buri A move to drastically reduce the number of National Human Rights (NHR) commissioners ended in deadlock yesterday after a highly charged meeting of the Constitution Drafting Committee.
Those supporting the reduction said there should be only three to five commissioners instead of the current 11, some of whom, they claim, are incompetent, idle and abusive. Those against the move said the commission had plenty of work to do and that cutting the number of commissioners would send the wrong message to the international community, especially as the drafting of the new charter is taking place under the auspices of the military junta. "Foreign states are interested in the issue. There are a lot of human rights problems, so I would like to know the real reason for reducing the number from 11 to five," said drafter Suphot Kaimuk, a former diplomat. "We would have to explain it to foreign states. We have to consider our image." Drafter Choochai Suphawong, himself an adviser to the rights commission, insisted that three or five commissioners would suffice. "Allow me to tell you about the behaviour of some commissioners later. Some good commissioners can't stay on and some have resigned," Choochai said. On other issues, the meeting - at a hotel in Chon Buri's seaside resort of Bang Saen - resolved to allow politicians to make a legal appeal if given a red card by the Election Commission. If exonerated, the politician would be spared a five-year ban from politics but his or her status as an MP or Cabinet member would remain revoked. Moreover, the electoral watchdog would only have the power to lodge a case concerning an election result with a court, instead of directly prosecuting politicians as in the past. It has yet to be agreed which court would handle such cases. The committee agreed to grant the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman the authority to directly file a case to a court of law without the need to have a complainant or affected citizens as legal plaintiffs. Representatives from people's organisations and non-governmental organisations would be allowed under the new charter to apply to be commissioners of the National Counter Corruption Commission. It was also decided to cut the number of State Audit commissioners from 10 to seven.
Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
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