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New Thai Constitution Drafted

by jordan | April 18, 2007 at 12:12 pm | 426 views | add comment

Should this constitution be approved, elections can be scheduled. Revisions to the document (which is deemed "less democratic" than its predecessor) would delay elections accordingly.

The first draft of a new constitution for Thailand has been agreed by a committee appointed by the military council that led last September's coup.

The draft will be presented to the public later this month before being put to a referendum.

Many of the details agreed by the 35-member drafting committee have already been made public.

One of the draft constitution's main objectives appears to be to limit the power of elected politicians.

It could perhaps be best described as the anti-Thaksin constitution.

It would limit prime ministers to just two four-year terms in office, reduce members of parliament from 500 to 400, and cut the number of senators from 200 to 160, who will now be appointed, not elected.

The number of MPs needed to introduce a motion of no-confidence in the prime minister has also been reduced, from two-thirds, to just a quarter.