Constitutional amendment move underway

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BANGKOK, March 19 – A group of pro-government Lower House MPs and senators plans to propose a bill to amend the 2007 constitution which bans politicians of dissolved political parties and the state’s authority in signing agreements with other countries, according to Senator Direk Tuengfang.

The senator from Nonthaburi and former chairman of the Reconciliation Committee for Political Reform and Charter Amendment said the group is collecting signatures from at least one-fifth of members of parliament to be submitted to the House speaker on Wednesday.

The group disagrees with Section 237 of the constitution which imposes a five-year ban on executive members of political parties dissolved by the Constitution Court for electoral fraud.

They will also seek an amendment of Section 68 which, they said, should clearly impose that any proposed dissolution of parties be made through the Attorney General Office.

Another subject of the proposed amendment is Section 190 of the constitution which requires the government to seek parliamentary approval in signing agreements with other countries.

Enforcing this constitutional provision has obstructed the government in its administration and has negatively affected the national interest, the group said.

Another proposal calls for the election of all 200 members of the Upper House.