Chart Thai Pattana Party promises new constitution, lower energy costs
Chart Thai Pattana Party leader Varawut Silpa-Archa has promised to draft a new constitution within 100 days if the party joins a government coalition after the May 14 general election.
During an interview with The Nation’s “Road to the Future” programme on Tuesday, the party’s prime ministerial candidate said the members of a Constitution Drafting Committee must be appointed immediately after the new government is formed and finish their job in 100 days.
“The committee must comprise all sectors of the country, and the content of the new draft must reflect the true situation of modern Thai society,” he said. "The aim is to draft a true ‘constitution of the people’, just like the 1997 Constitution drawn up during Banharn Silpa-archa’s administration.”
Varawut is second of the three children of the late PM Banharn. He continued his father’s legacy by taking the baton of Chart Thai Pattana’s leadership from his older sister Kanchana in 2022. The party has a strong base in Suphan Buri province, the home of the Silpa-Archa family.
Varawut, who is the environment minister in the outgoing government, also promised measures to help reduce people’s financial burden, especially their power bills.
“The new government must subsidise 50% of the fuel tariff in the first three months to bring down the power bills,” he said. “As for mid- and long-term plans, there will be promotional measures to encourage the public to install solar panels and sell the electricity back to the state. We will also negotiate with private power producers to bring down their profit margin so that people can enjoy cheaper energy.”
Chart Thai Pattana leader also insisted that the party advocates military reform, in which the majority of new recruits should come from volunteer applications. He added the army should attract new recruits by providing more benefits and career training during conscription.
“There will be no more abusive training of new recruits, nor any forcing of them to be servants at general’s houses,” he said. “Most importantly, the military will be barred from interfering with politics. This will be included in the new draft of the constitution.”
In March, Varawut had announced that his party aimed to win at least 17 MP seats in the May 14 general election, 12 from constituencies and five from the party-list system.
