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April 2007 : The Referendum is Coming Up
- The Cabinet had approved a draft referendum act proposed by the Election Commission and forwarded to the State Council for consideration.
- A million copies of the draft constitution, comprises of 299 articles, would be published and nationwide distribution to all public sectors before conducting public hearings.
- HM King Bhumiphol gave royal endorsement to 3 new ministers.
- TiTV will become the country’s first public broadcaster, with annual budget of 1.7 Bt billion and no advertisement.
- A draft act on emergency public health aims to provide expert medical team responsible on emergency relief and transfer of patients in state of emergency.
- The cabinet approved the amendments to the Foreign Business Act revised by the Commerce Ministry to make it friendlier to foreign investment.
- The cabinet approved the continuing of the Village Fund by allocating Bt 371 million for servicing and development.
- The Ministry of Justice has established a fund to facilitate legal expenditures to the poor defendants.
- The public prosecutor team agreed with the police to drop three lese majestic file suits against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
Cabinet approved draft referendum act
The Cabinet had approved a draft referendum act, as proposed by the Election Commission [ EC] , and forwarded to the State Council for urgently consideration before submit to the National Legislation Assembly for enforcement.
The Referendum Act, comprises of the EC’s authorities in organizing and supervising the national referendum along with penalty of the wrongdoer, will be the first ever legislative in the country in accords to the 2006 Interim Charter states that the 2007 Constitution should be voted in a national referendum before promulgation.
2007 Constitution draft finalized
The Constitution Drafting Sub-committees had finalized the draft 2007 charter with 299 articles and there are a few differences from the 1997 Constitution, which had 336 articles, on these following issues;
1. Rights and participation of the people would be extended and more protected.
2. State authority would be reduced and more decentralization of power to local administrative authorities.
3. More regulations would be imposed on election of the MPs and Senators particularly on ethics and morality to increase transparency of politicians and state officials.
4. Investigation system of independent agencies would be more efficiency.
A million copies of the draft constitution would be published and nationwide distribution to all public sectors before holding public hearings and referendum.
3 new ministers endorsed
HM King Bhumiphol gave royal endorsement to 3 new ministers as follow:
Vallop Thaineua will assume the position of deputy public health minister.
Theerawut Butrsriphum is becoming deputy interior minister.
Nat Indarapan will be the deputy tourism and sports minister.
TiTV to be first public TV
The cabinet meeting on April 24 approved a roadmap to turn TiTV into the country’s first public broadcaster with no advertisement. Annual budget of 1.7 billion Baht should come from special tax earmarked by the Excise Department; alcohol and cigarettes, as well as subsidies from public health, education and other public funds.
An independent committee would be founded to supervise the public broadcaster’s objective and it shall be run by a professional management team, not by state officials to avoid political and business interference.
Emergency public health act approved
The cabinet approved a draft act on emergency public health as proposed by the ministry of public health with principles on 4 issues:
1. Expert medical team would be provided to take care and transfer of patients in state of emergency.
2. A new 3-digit toll free number, will be allocated to Narenthorn Centre who will be totally responsible on the emergency transportation.
3. All hospitals are eligible to accept all patients in state of emergency.
4. Accident relief voluntary would become more professional and systematic nationwide.
A fund from 3 major sources, the national public health security fund, the social security fund and the state officials and family fund, will be set up to cover expenditures on services and training of staffs and it is expected that the scheme would be fully function within 8-10 years.
Cabinet OK business act amendment
The cabinet on April 10 approved the amendments to the Foreign Business Act revised by the Commerce Ministry after the first draft was rejected in February. The amendment was made to make it friendlier to foreign investment on 6 key issues:
1.The new draft will focus on the voting rights of foreign shareholders. If a company is 49 per cent foreign owned but foreigners hold more than 50 per cent of its voting rights the company will be denied as a foreign one.
2.It will take out more businesses covered under Annex III. This will allow these businesses, such as insurance and non-commodity futures market, to be covered by specific laws.
3.The new draft will remove the amnesty for those violating the nominee law.
4.The draft will increase the penalty for those violating the Foreign Business Law- from three to five years in jail, and from Bt100,000 to Bt 1 million in fines to Bt500,000 to Bt 5 million.
5.It will expand the period from two to three years for foreign companies operating in Annex I and Annex II to revise their ownership structure to conform to the new law. Moreover, foreign companies in Annex III must inform the Commerce Ministry within one year that they have foreign ownership status before continuing to operate as normal.
6.A 17-member committee will be formed to rule whether a company is Thai or foreign owned is case of dispute.
The Commerce Ministry says the amendments create more transparency by clearly defining foreign ownership and delineating the types of businesses that are open to foreigners. It is also aiming to make it clear once and for all that using nominees to circumvent foreign-ownership caps is prohibited.
The draft bill will be sent to the National Legislation Assembly for enactment.
Village fund to be continued
The cabinet approved the continuing of the Village Fund by allocating Bt 371 million for servicing and development on ground that the policy is much better than any popular policy initiated by the former government since it will sustainability solve poverty problem. However, there will be minor revision in management to comply with HM the King’s sufficiency economy philosophy and the allocation of fund will base on geographical area.
Fund for the innocent poor
The Ministry of Justice has established a fund to facilitate legal advice and lawyer, out-of-court settlement and other legal expenditures to the defendants who are innocent and unable to bear legal expenditures. However, a subsidy will be cancelled if the funding committee later finds the allegation is on ground.
No lese majestic suit on Thaksin
The public prosecutor team agreed with the police to drop three lese majestic file suits against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. The three cases were done during his speeches 1] to a group of taxi drivers in Hua Mark Indoor Stadium on December 25, 2005, 2] televised on February 4, 2006 and 3] when the caravan of the poor greeted him with HM the King flags and head banner- We Love Thaksin.
The decision will be submitted to the Police chief for endorsement. If the decision is controversy the cases will be finalize by the general-attorney.
From : http://www.fpps.or.th
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