Anek upbeat on political reform

With the first draft expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year, the political reform blueprint will yield substantial results within five years, said Anek Laothamatas, chairman of the reform panel on politics.

Mr Anek yesterday said politicians will also be invited to give their opinions on the reforms as they will play a crucial role in running the country once a democratic system is restored.

He said the first draft is expected to be finalised by the end of next month and will be presented to a meeting of all 11 panels on various reform areas to consider if the political reform plan is consistent with other aspects of national reform.

The draft, if endorsed at the plenary meeting, will be forwarded to the national strategy committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly early next year.

The final draft should be ready for implementation after all the procedures are complete by April, Mr Anek said.

He said the committee will make the plan legally binding for state agencies who would face punishment if they fail to comply. The government will also be required to ensure state agencies follow through with the plan, Mr Anek said.

He said he believed the reform plan will yield results in five years, though he admitted that some reform issues may take some time to achieve, such as building a new popular political culture.

Other issues, which are mostly technical, such as primary votes — where political party members select potential MP candidates who will then be chosen by their party executives to contest the next general election — should take less time to put into practice.

But Nikorn Chamnong, director of the Chartthaipattana Party, said that the five areas targeted by the committee may not be comprehensive enough to address the major flaws inherent in the political system that existed prior to the coup.

For example, decentralisation, which forms an important element of political reform, is not included in the five areas, he said while stressing the need to ensure national reconciliation before an election is held.

The five areas targeted by the political reform committee are the establishment of fair and fraud-free elections, the creation of a dhammathipatai (dhamma democracy based on religious virtues) state, the promotion of a healthy political culture in a democracy with the King as head of state, the implementation of mechanisms to settle conflicts by peaceful means, and the decentralisation of power to local governing bodies and fair management and distribution of natural resources.