The government is hoping to get up to 60 urgent pieces of legislation on the statute book this year, including crucial reform and strategy-related bills.

It is still unclear, however, which legislation will require a push via powers granted under Article 44 of the interim charter.

The secretary-general of the Council of State, Distat Hotrakitya, said on Tuesday after the weekly Cabinet meeting that the advisory committee for reform legislation under the Por Yor Por super-board had set up a subcommittee to oversee the related legislation.

Legislation that would push forward reform and strategy might pass through the Por Yor Por fast-track route, he said, adding that the responsible committee, if it had an opinion to offer on a piece of legislation, could voice it to the government.

Despite the fast-track process, Distat did not rule out the possibility of invoking Article 44.

However, he added that if the regular procedure worked well and within the deadline, absolute authority under an Article 44 order would not be necessary.

The government has made it clear that the use of Article 44 is only for urgent issues and is a temporary measure, Distat explained.

Other legislation would need to be amended to fit with the new laws, he said, adding that everything must in any case go through the National Legislative Assembly, as normal.

The National Reform Steering Assembly, which is responsible for drafting bills related to reform, had proposed earlier that Article 44 could be used to make the urgent enactment of laws possible.

Although Distat said he had yet to examine the bills, he acknowledged that some of them might need to be enacted through the use of Article 44.

However, it was unclear which ones might require such action, he said.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by BANGKOK POST

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