| Following
the change in the political system in 1932, Pridi
was one of the most influential leaders of the
People's Party in setting up a new political
administration system. As he was the only
individual in the Party to receive a law degree
from the University of Paris, he gave special
attention to legislative and political
administration matters. In addition to drafting
the Proclamation Declaration of the People's
Party, Pridi wrote the first constitution of Siam
by drafting the Legislation on the Temporary
Administration of the Country on 27 June 1932.
Furthermore, he was a key member of the
constitutional Drafting Committee in drafting the
constitution of 10 December 1932 which became the
first permanent Thai constitution in history.
This constitution provides the foundation for
democracy which has the rule of law as the
highest principle for political administration
and which provides for the Monarchy as the Head
of State under the constitution. It
should also be mentioned that Pridi was appointed
by the House of Representatives to be its first
Secretary General of the Thai Parliament. He was
thus able to use this position to further the
advancement of the principles of liberties and
equality for the people.
Pridi
was responsible for drafting the first National
Election Act of 1932. In his word,
"elections are an important component of
politics. In some countries, elections are
written into the constitution and we have done
the same in the Transitional Constitution (first
constitution). We can thus see that legislation
concerning elections is not an insignificant
matter." Pridi was one of the pioneers ind
advancing the rights of women to vote and
encouraging their participation in the House of
Representatives so that they may enjoy equal
rights as men. He pushed for immediate universal
suffrage for those who are not under 20 Years of
age while those who were eligible for election to
the House of Representatives had to have a
minimum age of only 23.
It is
worth mentioning that France under a democratic
regime long before Thailand, did not allow women
to vote and to get elected to Parliament until
after the second World War, whereas the United
Kingdom with her immemorial parliamentary system,
had indeed granted political rights to women of
30 years of age only in 1918. Equality of
political rights for both men and women was not
achieved before 1928, that is to say five years
before Thailand.
As a
result of Pridi's law study in France, he had a
good understanding of the French institution
responsible for legislation. Aside from having
legislative power, such an institution also
serves as legal advisor to the government and
more importantly, as the Administrative Court to
oversee cases involving conflicts between public
officials and the common people. Thus, following
the change in the political system, Pridi was the
prime mover for a "Juridical Council"
responsible for drafting legislation and acting
as legal advisor to the government. Furthermore,
he attempted to have the "Juridical
Council" function as an "Administrative
Court" but was unsuccessful. The debate over
who should have jurisdiction over the
Administrative Court continues to this very day.
Some
have characterised Pridi as favouring a
Dictatorship of the Bureaucracy by analysing only
certain aspects of his Draft Economic Plan. His
thinking on an Administrative Court reflects his
desire to make the bureaucracy accountable to the
people and to give equal political rights between
civil servants and ordinary citizens. Pridi
supported the idea of an Administrative Court
before the change in the political system of
1932. In fact, he was the first person to teach
administrative law at the law school of the
Ministry of Justice. In his lectures entitled,
"Explanations on Administrative Law,"
Pridi spoke generally in favour of having an
Administrative Court in Thailand in the following
manner: "In some countries in Continental
Europe such as Italy, France and Germany, as well
as in Japan, the Administrative Court is
established outside the jurisdiction of the
existing court system in order to handle cases
involving the Administration. No such
Administrative Court exists in Thailand. As a
result, those who suffer from the actions of the
political administration have only limited
recourse for action...."
Since
the political culture of Thailand encourages
strong state power, the efforts to set up an
Administrative Court spearheaded by Pridi met
with many obstacles. In Pridi's view, until an
Administrative Court is established in the
judicial system, the rights, liberties and
equality of the ordinary citizen will not be
realised in practice.
At
present, it is heartening to note that the aspect
of "Administrative Court" has become an
important issue in the Government of prime
Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (1977) and
it is hoped that the aspirations of Pridi
Banomyong regarding political administration will
be ultimately fulfilled.
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