The appointment of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members marks the end of absolute dictatorship and the beginning of democratization. The military’s ruthless power will be civilized by sharing it with other bodies created by the Interim Charter. Instead of the junta’s order, laws must now be passed by representatives of the people.
But in the past, elections only produced an incompetent and captured parliament. Politicians are propagandists who rarely know anything about a bill pending before them. Their decision is not made in accordance with public interest, but rather for the chance of being re-elected. As a result, they will avoid any bills which might hurt their popularity. Votes are dictated by leaders of political parties and those who finance them. However, an election provides the state a source of legitimacy as a democratic parliament could claim itself as a place where representatives of the people meet and debate how to distribute wealth and govern the nation. Thus, the drafters of the Interim Charter were facing a dilemma of how to design an NLA where independent experts are recruited and still represent the people. If the junta believes that elections do not work, it must replace elections with another form of representation.
The result is the non-partisan National Legislative Assembly of no more than 220 members appointed by the National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO). The NCPO handpicked them from six different sectors: public sector, private sector, civic sector, academic sector, professional sector, and other sectors useful for the Assembly’s operation. Any member of a political party up to three years prior to the appointment is ineligible. Although an exact ratio is not specified, the Charter mandates the NCPO to take into consideration diversity of appointees. The junta’s head of law and justice taskforce, General Piboon Khumchaya, also confirmed that the NCPO would select people from all professions and political spectrums. Ideally, the National Assembly would have been comprised of senior bureaucrats, businessmen, social activists, professors, and other technocrats, all of whom represent different interest groups in Thai society.
In addition to a legislative function, an NLA has limited role in reinforcing accountability of the cabinet. The Assembly chooses a prime minister but cannot remove the prime minister unless the NCPO proposes it. A minister may reserve his right to testify before the Assembly under the claim of national security and the Assembly cannot cast a vote of no confidence against a member of the cabinet.