Charter change on ethics ‘will be dropped if not backed by coalition’

The government’s plan to amend some articles of the Constitution clarifying ethical standards will be aborted if there is no consensus from coalition partners, Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Tuesday.

Phumtham, who doubles as deputy PM, said the plan to amend the articles governing the ethical standards of political office holders was not coalition-leader Pheu Thai’s initiative, but stemmed from ideas floated by coalition partners.

He said coalition leaders had discussed the issue of ethical standards before the new Cabinet was sworn in earlier this month, as they believed the provisions governing the ethics of lawmakers were unclear.

Phumtham added that Pheu Thai had simply taken up the opinions of coalition partners to draft a bill to amend the charter.

Earlier, PM’s Office Minister Chusak Sirinil had said that Pheu Thai will sponsor a bill to amend certain articles of the charter to more clearly define the ethical standards of political office holders.

The amendment plan unveiled by Chusak was seen as having stemmed from the ouster of Srettha Thavisin as prime minister by the Constitutional Court after he appointed former jailbird Pichit Chuenban as Cabinet member.

Chusak said the amendments would make the ethical standards clearer without a need for interpretation.

However, his plan drew harsh criticism, with many saying it would constitute conflict of interest as the MPs would seek to amend the charter for their own interest.

Meanwhile, at least two coalition partners – Bhumjaithai and United Thai Nation parties – have distanced themselves from the plan.
“We’ll try to bring together leaders of coalition partners for a meeting as soon as possible. If they agree, it will go on, if not it won’t,” Phumtham said.

“I hereby affirm that the issue was not initiated by Pheu Thai, but started from proposals made by leaders of several parties, who expressed concerns about the lack of clarity. We discussed this issue because we want clarity.”

Phumtham added that based on what he has heard, nearly all coalition partners supported the planned amendments.

When a reporter quoted Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul as saying that the focus should be on solving people’s problems rather than on charter amendments, Phumtham said the government did not halt its work on easing people’s problems.

He said the amendments will be done alongside working on solving people’s grievances.

Phumtham explained that the rewriting of the entire charter by a new charter drafting assembly would take time, so some coalition leaders had suggested that certain articles be amended first.

Meanwhile, Anutin, who is deputy PM and interior minister, affirmed his party’s stance on Tuesday, saying it will not support amendments on ethical standard requirements.

Deputy House Speaker Paradorn Prissananthakul, who hails from Bhumjaithai, has already announced his party’s stance, Anutin said, adding that he has spoken with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and she was not too serious about the amendment either.