From: ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Samart Srijumnong)
Subject: Military oppose barring officials to be senator (fwd Dec 12 Bkk Post)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 17:53:24 GMT
Keywords: Thailand


From kamol@ipied.tu.ac.th Fri Dec 11 21:08:20 1992
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From: Kamol Hengkietisak <kamol@ipied.tu.ac.th>
Message-Id: <9212111608.AA04228@ipied.tu.ac.th>
To: post-thai@ipied.tu.ac.th
Subject: Bangkok Post Dec 12: Military brass oppose barring permanent officials to be senator
Status: R

 
MILITARY senators yesterday indicated strong opposition to 
proposals by the House charter amendment committee to bar civil 
servants from being appointed to the Senate and to reduce the 
number of senators.
 
Deputy Army Chief-of-Staff Lt-Gen Yuthana Kamdee said there should 
have been more discussion of the issue before the proposal was 
made.
 
"If we are a real democracy, why should there be so many 
restrictions? Everyone should be able to help, without someone 
saying which groups can or cannot contribute," Lt-Gen Yuthana 
said.
 
Every senator is capable and experienced, he said. They help to 
screen bills and give a second opinion on them to the Government.
 
Asked if people should not resign from civil service before 
becoming senators, Lt-Gen Yuthana said this could be decided when 
the time comes, and that now is the time for everyone to work 
together.
 
Asked if soldiers should be senators, he said soldiers are also 
well-educated. "Soldiers are good citizens. Why exclude us?" he 
asked.
 
There are already 360 MPs in the Lower House, he said.
 
He did not understand the calls for change and did not want to 
even think about the call for the number of senators to be cut, he 
said.
 
"People in the Army have feelings, too. If something good is said, 
we are glad, but if something bad is said, we stay neutral because 
it's not worth arguing about something that should not have been 
said," he said.
 
Former interior minister Gen Sitthi Jirarote, who is now a 
senator, said he did not understand the intention of the two 
proposals.
 
He has been appointed a senator 14 times, and thought that soldier 
senators had been able to use their knowledge and experience to 
help Parliament, he said.
 
He was not worried about the number of senators being cut from 270 
to 120 -- or 
 the number of MPs. The important question is whether 
civil servants should be allowed to be senators, he said.
 
Soldiers should be represented in the Senate, he said, because the 
Constitution says all career groups should be represented in the 
Upper House, he said.
 
On a suggestion that the country no longer needs civil servants in 
the Senate, he said that without civil servants the Senate would 
have only people nominated by political parties and it would lose 
the freedom to exercise independent judgement.
 
National Security Council secretary-general Gen Charan 
Kullavanijaya said that whatever is desired should be thought out 
first before it is spoken in accordance with "democratic 
principles". He said one should not hurry to make decisions on the 
two proposals.
 
Asked if the two proposals could be considered attacks on the 
military, he said everyone has the right to express an opinion, 
but they should put more thought into it first.
 
Industry Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said he supports the 
proposal to ban government officials from becoming senators.
 
It would be strange if a permanent secretary, in his capacity as a 
senator, would join a censure motion against the Government, said 
Maj-Gen Sanan, who is also secretary general of the Democrat 
Party.
 
He disagreed with political parties being allowed to propose 
Senate candidates because members of the Upper House should be 
independent, he said.
 
Deputy Interior Minister Chamni Sakdiset said he thinks senior 
government officials should continue to be appointed to the Senate 
but that their numbers should be cut.
 
Because the officials are capable in several fields, they can help 
Parliament screen legislation, said the Palang Dharma Party MP.
 
However, the Senate has so many senior government officials that 
they have become another pressure group in the Upper House, he 
added. He also said that if senators are appointed by political 
parties, it will compromise the independence of the Upper House.