PM approve 35-member committee to work on amending constitution
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Tuesday signed an order establishing an ad-hoc committee to consider the public hearing approach for amendment of the 2017 Constitution, a news source reported.
The committee of 35 members from political parties will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. Pheu Thai Party’s deputy leader, Chusak Sirinil, will serve as first deputy chairman while Chart Thai Pattana Party MP Nikorn Jamnong will serve as second deputy chairman and spokesperson of the committee.
Pro-democracy activist Sirawit "Ja New" Serithiwat, who has been outspoken about reform of the justice system, especially regarding political demonstrations, was among those named in the committee. He has been a member of Pheu Thai Party since October last year.
The committee also reserved a seat for a member from the main opposition Move Forward Party, which has yet to name its representative.
Move Forward spokesperson Parit Wacharasindhu said on Tuesday that the party would meet later today to consider whether to nominate a representative in the committee.
He added that it was not clear to the party what role the committee would have on amending the Constitution, which the government had promised would happen in 3-4 months after it took office.
Parit, a party-list MP, said that Move Forward advocates charter amendment to be carried out by elected representatives only.
During the party meeting on Tuesday, Move Forward MPs would also discuss questioning the government regarding measures to deal with imminent flood problems when Parliament meets this week, Parit added.
