2007 Constitution of Thailand - 2006 Interim Constitution

2006 Interim Constitution

On 19 September 2006, a military junta seized power from the interim caretaker government of Thaksin Shinawatra and abrogated the Constitution of Thailand. It later established an interim constitution which specified a process for drafting the permanent constitution. The interim constitution:

• Prohibits the 100 members of the Constitution Drafting Council from being current members of a political party or being members of a political party for the previous 2 years (Art. 19)
• Spells out the peer-vote of a 2,000 member National Assembly to elect 200 candidates for the Constitutional Drafting Council. Each member can vote for no more than three members, those nominated with the most votes will win. In the case of tied votes, which result in more than 200 winners, the winners will be decided by drawing lots. The peer-vote must complete in seven days (Art. 22).
• Empowers the Council of National Security to pick 100 of 200 CDC candidates for royal approval (Art. 22).
• Empowers the Council of National Security to appoint a 100 member CDC if the National Assembly fails to complete its selection within 7 days (Art. 23)
• Empowers the 100 CDC members to appoint 25 members of a Drafting Committee who may not be CDC members. The CNS will appoint another 10 members. (Art. 25)
• Forces the Drafting Committee to explain the differences between its draft and the 1997 Constitution. Forces the Committee to present drafts to major state agencies and universities. Forces the Committee to promote and hold public hearings (Art. 26).
• Allows half the members of the National Assembly to submit amendments to the constitution (Art. 27)
• Gives the Drafting Committee 30 days to compile feedback and amendments and compile a report stating why such amendments were accepted or rejected. The report will be presented to the CDC for review along with the constitution for approval. Further amendments require a vote of 3/5's the membership of the CDC (Art. 28)
• Sets the 180-day deadline to complete the charter drafting before organising the referendum on the new charter within 30 days. The referendum will be managed by the CDC (Art. 29)
• Sets the 45-day deadline for the drafting of organic laws and bans the chairman of the Council of National Security, members of the National Legislative Assembly and those involved in charter writing from contesting the general election and the senatorial race for two years (Art. 30)
• Allows the National Assembly and Cabinet, chaired by the CNS Chairman, to select any previous constitution and revise it for use if the Drafting Committee's draft is not approved by public referendum or the CDC does not approve the constitution (Art. 32)