German Expert Participation at the
KPI Congress on “Constitutional Reform: Comparative Perspectives”

Since 2005, many civil society groups in Thailand have intensively criticized some sections of the 1997 Constitution, e.g. that it was the basis for a strong executive, and that it weakened the balance of power in a democratic polity. The need for some amendments to the constitution and for political reforms in general, has been increasingly debated. The King Prajadhipok Institute (KPI) organized its annual conference on the subject of “Constitutional Reform: Comparative Perspectives” from November 3 to 5, 2006. KPI is an independent public academic organization and parliamentarian think-tank, working on promoting democracy, politics and governance in Thailand. 

The goal of the conference was a comparative academic debate. In order to support this goal, FES invited the German expert on constitutional topics, Dr. Klaus Messerschmidt from the Faculty of Law ("Juristische Fakultät") of the Humboldt University Berlin. 

Only a month before the event, the September military coup took place and abolished the 1997 constitution. An overwhelming number of about 700 persons attended the conference. The participants came from different sectors such as academia, civil society, youth groups, women’s groups, former politicians, and others. The discussions during the sessions were intense and lively, and resulted in quite a number of recommendations for the new constitution. 

For more information on the conference, please visit:
http://el.kpi.ac.th/kpien/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=43

A panel discussion “The Process of Constitutional Reform from a Comparative Perspectives”