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Published on April 15, 2008

The proposed constitutional amendments will be participatory and touch virtually all aspects of the draft, so that politics will become stable and attract more foreign investment, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.

Noppadon, who is on an official visit to Beijing, tried to calm fears that the ruling People Power Party (PPP) would single-handedly amend the 2007 junta-sponsored Constitution.

He said nothing would stop the government from amending the charter, however. Noppadon is also deputy secretary of the PPP.

The government has been under attack for many weeks for its decision to amend the charter, especially Article 237, which in effect states that if a party executive is found guilty of electoral fraud, then the political party of which the executive is a member should be disbanded.

Critics see the move as an act of self-preservation, and a PPP deputy leader is facing such a charge.

The foreign minister criticised Article 237 as unsound.

"This Article 237 has never existed in Thai history. It's against religious teaching for someone to commit a wrongdoing and then someone else pay for it," Noppadon said.

"Punishment should be reserved for the one who has committed the crime. So any party executive who committed an offence should be punished, but the party should not be disbanded. Otherwise, people could try to have parties dissolved," said Noppadon.

Other issues highlighted by Noppadon for the charter amendment are removing politicians from the selection process of independent organisations under the Constitution.

Noppadon added that although PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat was facing electoral-fraud charges, Yongyuth was still fighting the case in the Supreme Court.

The Nation