Cabinet ministers should be replaced every year so fresh faces can be brought in to help fast track national reforms, a meeting of the National Legislative Assembly heard yesterday.
The NLA met to acknowledge a government report on the progress of the implementation of national reform plans.
Prime Minister's Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool, chairman of the national reform steering committee, presented the report to the meeting.
Under Section 270 of the constitution, the cabinet is required to report on the progress of reforms to the parliament every three months. The NLA currently carries out the role of parliament.
Mr Kobsak said the governments' reform efforts have yielded satisfactory results and added that the government will table some 100 legislative bills to the NLA for deliberation over the next two months.
The government expects the assembly to pass the bills, which are aimed at strengthening the country and steering it towards prosperity, Mr Kobsak said.
He added that the government is doing its best to push for reforms while also allowing the public to participate in the process.
During the meeting, Adm Saksit Cherdboonmuang, an NLA member, suggested cabinet ministers should be replaced every year to boost the efficiency of the national reform committee.
He said such a policy has been implemented in Europe and should serve as a model for Thailand.
Adm Saksit went on to say the Thai bureaucracy cannot measure up to the task of pushing for reform, so it needs to be reformed, too. He did not give details of what he had in mind, but this is not the first time such a proposal has come up.
Legislation should be designed to empower the people rather than increasing the power of state agencies, he added.
Tuang Antachai, another NLA member, urged the government to attach greater importance to education reforms, saying that learning is a lifelong process for children to tackle real-life problem solving, not just to pass exams.
Somchai Swangkarn, another NLA member, said the government should propose its most important legislative bills to the NLA by this month so the assembly can deliberate and pass them as law before the general election takes place.
Less urgent bills should be presented to the next government after the election, Mr Somchai said.
