Opposition won’t pursue ethics amendments for now

The People’s Party has agreed to put on hold its push to amend articles in the constitution that deal with ethical standards for political officeholders, following a U-turn by the Pheu Thai Party on the matter.
The main opposition party is ready to forgo discussions on the topic for the time being, because it doesn’t want the issue to be used as an excuse by other parties to withdraw their support for other proposals it is pushing, according to party spokesman Parit Wacharasindhu. 
He noted the party is pushing for six other changes to the constitution, which include a bill aimed at preventing a new military coup, a bill seeking to reform the armed forces, and another bill to prevent collusion between the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the government.
“The amendments might not be approved before the next general election, but all political parties should treat these partial changes as important and join forces to achieve them,” he said.
Mr Parit also dismissed criticism that the push by the coalition-leading Pheu Thai Party and his party to amend articles relating to ethics was self-serving. Critics have said such a change could let many members of both parties off the hook.
The real intention behind the move, he said, was to ensure that the Constitutional Court and other independent organisations would not be able to exploit ethics as a tool to treat a political party unfairly.
In recent weeks, petitioners have filed numerous “ethics” complaints against Pheu Thai figures including the prime minister, as they seek to find any way they can to bring down the party.
Many members of the People’s Party, meanwhile, remain at risk of lifetime bans from politics, as anti-graft investigators are reviewing ethics complaints against 44 members of the Move Forward Party, the predecessor of the main opposition party. Petitioners have cited the members’ support for amendments to the lese-majeste law, the policy the charter court cited when it dissolved Move Forward.
The People’s Party still believes it is crucial to stop the courts and other organisations from monopolising the authority to hold officeholders accountable for their ethical standards, Mr Parit said.
Pheu Thai, meanwhile, is expected to give up on its plan to amend the organic law on political parties and another bill proposing to amend the organic law on the NACC later this week, according to a Government House source.
The move followed an assessment by key party figures, which pointed to the likelihood of the bills encountering strong resistance from coalition partners, said the source.
Pheu Thai has instead turned to its initial plan to rewrite the 2017 constitution, except for chapters 1 and 2 dealing with the monarchy, in order to secure the changes it wants, said the source.
The party is waiting for the bill on a charter referendum, now under review in the Senate, to be passed into law before it pushes to organise the first referendum on the proposed charter amendment plan, said the source.