PUBLISHED : 9 Aug 2023 at 17:26
The Move Forward Party (MFP) has submitted nine more bills to parliament as the reformist party pushes for changes it promised supporters while campaigning for the May 14 general election.
The bills are in three sets, the first concerning local administration, the second corruption prevention and the rest are about diversity, according to list-MP Parit Wacharasindhu, who is behind the move.
The party on July 18 submitted two sets of bills, seven in total, to parliament relating to reforms to the armed forces and preventing business monopolies.
The bills about local administrations seek to decentralise planning, regulate land expropriation by the government, clarify rules on land acquisition, and bring improvements to land transport and roads, he said.
There are also two bills meant to help prevent corruption – one on public information and the other to streamline the process of getting permits from state agencies, the MFP MP said.
The last three bills are meant to boost inclusivity and diversity in society – a proposd amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code to allow same-sex marriage, a bill on gender certification and protection of gender diversity, and a bill to promote the rights of ethnic minorities and indigenous people.
Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, an MFP list-MP who proposed the marriage equality bill, said the MFP’s previous push for marriage equality is at risk of being dropped, so a new bill on marriage equality is needed.
The old bill, presented to the previous parliament, will automatically lapse if the new parliament does not take it up again for deliberation by early next month, she said.
MFP list-MP Manop Keereepuwadol, who chairs MFP’s network of ethnic minorities and indigenous people, said a similar push to protect the rights of ethnic minorities and indigenous people was rejected by the previous parliament. The bill had been adjusted and re-submitted for consideration, he said.
Two of the seven bills submitted on July 18 have since been found to require preliminary approval by caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as they concern state finances, Mr Parit said.
One bill seeks to end mandatory military conscription and the other seeks to dissolve the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), he said, and asked Gen Prayut to consider approving both of them.