Celebrating a non-existent constitution
Many of us were enjoying a day off yesterday, but few would have realised the public holiday was to mark “Constitution Day”. It was 83 years ago that the country’s first constitution was put in place when the absolute monarchy was abolished after the coup on June 24, 1932.
Eighty-three years later, Thailand continues to struggle with its constitution as the new Constitution Drafting Committee under Meechai Ruchupan looks to write the 20th charter that will need to be completed by April 1, 2016 before it is put forth for a referendum.
Thailand is by no means a young democracy anymore. Younger democracies such as India have gone far beyond Thailand regarding the state of democracy. India, which achieved democracy in 1947, 15 years after Thailand, had its constitution in place in November 1949 and implemented on Jan 26, 1950.
The Indian charter that continues to hold the title of the longest charter in the world, has never been torn apart by military coups. Nor has it been amended to benefit any particular party, even though that party may have had an absolute majority in parliament.
In Thailand’s case, we have had 19 constitutions that have been ripped apart due to different excuses, mostly after a coup. So on average, the 19 constitutions that Thailand has had over the past 83 years gives each constitution a lifespan of about 4.4 years.
In terms of numbers, Thailand cannot boast it has had the highest number of charters in the world. That title should go to countries like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Haiti. These countries that hold the world record for the highest number of constitutions have also had democracies lasting for more than 100 years.
As the new charter drafting committee under Mr Meechai, which was appointed by the Prayut Chan-o-cha government, works on drafting its new version of the constitution, fears have emerged about certain elements that could make the supreme law weak, with leeway in its interpretation by different political factions.
If that is the case, it may lead to another round — or rounds — of political tug-of-war in the future.
On top of that, it appears the new charter drafting committee is keen to add some “undemocratic” elements to the draft and label it a “Thai way of democracy”.
Some of the key elements, similar to the ones in the Borwornsak Uwanno version that was shot down by the National Reform Council early in September, include an “outsider” candidate to be prime minister.
Such elements make people like me wonder about the thought processes of these people when they are drafting the charter.
The charter drafting process is an undertaking that puts forward the interests of the country at the present moment and in the decades if not centuries ahead.
As a matter of principle, the charter must ensure the mechanism of checks and balances is in place so that some clauses are not circumvented or misused, while at the same time giving enough leeway for amendments to take place if and when they are required.
Some of the longest-serving constitutions in the world have seen amendments over the years but there are checks and balances to offset any vested interest groups taking advantage of them. This could be something the Meechai committee should take into account as they work on the charter.
As the constitution drafting committee still has time to work on it before the deadline, I would suggest it studies charters in other countries,
Thailand’s problems are not unique to itself; some other countries are bound to have gone through similar issues and some helpful guidance could go a long way in opening up the thought processes of the Thai drafters.
Unless these constitution drafters open up to ideas beyond their narrow way of thinking, their charter will contain loopholes and that will make it easy for political groups or even the military to abuse it.
Under such circumstances, there is a probability that we Thais are going to have many more “Constitution Day” holidays without actually having a constitution that we can celebrate.
We have had 19 constitutions that have been ripped apart.