Panel head proposes 34-member committee to amend Thai Charter

BANGKOK, January 10 (TNA) - Head of Thailand's independent panel on promoting the rule of laws Ukrit Mongkolnawin has proposed that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra set up a new 34-member committee to work out the country's constitutional amendments. Ukrit said on Tuesday that he considers the method is more appropriate and faster than forming a new constitutional drafting assembly (CDA) to rewrite the 2007 Constitution. The former Thai Parliament president told journalists that the government can change the number of members of the committee he has proposed, insisting that he disagrees with the formation of the CDA, as it appears to be time-consuming and costly and there is no guarantee that elected members of the CDA will really represent the Thai public. The former Thai Parliament president also denied that he took orders from exiled ex-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, acknowledging that the planned constitutional amendments will not touch Section 112 on lese majeste of the Criminal Code. (TNA)