A National Reform Council (NRC) committee has proposed the Election Commission (EC) be stripped of its power to issue election "yellow and red cards".
Seree Suwannapanon, who chairs the law and justice reform committee, said Wednesday the panel concluded that the EC should be only responsible for holding elections and gathering evidence of election law violations — and not handing out punishments.
Under the current system, candidates issued yellow cards are still allowed to compete in election re-runs, but those given red cards are disqualified and are not permitted to participate.
Mr Seree said the EC was seen to have held too much power over elections, which led to its credibility and neutrality being questioned.
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The committee suggested the EC's power to bring sanctions against election candidates accused of violating election laws be transferred to the courts instead, Mr Seree said.
He said the agency's authority to issue yellow and red cards has also been criticised for contributing to the political conflict that has divided the country.
Mr Seree said the committee agreed that the entire process — from the EC handling election fraud complaints to the court issuing yellow and red cards — should take no more than two months. In the past, the procedures had dragged on for up to a year.
The recommendation was among other committee proposals Mr Seree revealed Wednesday.
He said the number of EC members should remain at five, and members should have a six-year term in office, limited to one term. Under the previous 2007 charter, EC members had a term of seven years and were allowed to serve one term.
The committee also proposed changes to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) by reducing a commissioner's tenure from nine to six years but retaining the body's membership at nine.
The NACC would also have the authority to handle only corruption cases against politicians and government officials, while the authority to consider disciplinary punishment against government officials accused of breaching the civil service code of conduct would rest with the Office of the Civil Service Commission's subcommittees based at each ministry, Mr Seree said.
The committee recommended that government officials at all levels declare their assets and liabilities to the NACC so the anti-graft body can use the information for investigations in the event future corruption cases emerge.
Meanwhile, Gen Lertrat Rattanawanich, spokesman of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), insisted that an amnesty will not be included in the new constitution.
He was responding to reports that the CDC's 10th subcommittee on reform and reconciliation, chaired by NRC member Anek Laothamatas, has proposed two amnesty options.
A source previously said the first option is a blanket amnesty and the other is a partial one that excludes those facing homicide and lese majeste charges.
However, it is still unclear whether the amnesty clause, if endorsed, will cover ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was sentenced to two years in jail by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in 2008 after being found guilty of a conflict of interest in the Ratchadaphisek land deal.
Wuthisarn Tanchai, another spokesman for the CDC, said the committee will hear proposals from the NRC from Monday to Wednesday before starting to write the new constitution after New Year.
The process of drafting the new charter must be finished by April 17 next year. The CDC will then submit the draft to the NRC, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the cabinet for consideration.
Mr Wuthisarn said the CDC will hold 10 forums nationwide to gather public input on the new charter, adding that the forums would not be token gestures, or "rituals".
"The forums must allow the public to have a say in the charter drafting process, and to make them realise that they are the owners of a popular mandate," Mr Wuthisarn said.
He noted that the new constitution would only include some proposals for reform, but could not cover all of them. In light of this, the NRC and the NLA must work together to issue legislation to accommodate other reform proposals, Mr Wuthisarn said.
Pondej Pinprateep, an NRC member, said the NRC will propose a bill to set up a council to oversee ethics and good governance of political-office holders, and to punish those breaching ethical codes of conduct. Details will be discussed later, he said.