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Citizen-initiated legislation: The Clean Air Bill in Thailand
Thailand offers an interesting example of citizen-initiated legislation. This article describes how this process was used to develop the Clean Air Bill, with insights shared by Ms. Kanongnij Sribuaiam, Vice-Chair of the Clean Air Act Ad hoc Committee, and Ms. Weenarin Lulitanonda, Co-founder of the Thailand Clean Air Network, during a webinar held on 27 September 2024 as part of the IPU-IPEN series on public engagement.
Enabling citizen-initiated legislation
The Constitution of Thailand contains provisions allowing three entities to propose a bill: the Cabinet, MPs and citizens. This means that civil society organizations (CSOs) can initiate laws by gathering signatures from at least 10,000 eligible voters.
The process is regulated through an act of parliament known as the Initiative Process Act. The act, which was first passed in 2017 and updated in 2020, establishes the following rules:
The content of a proposed bill must relate to the rights and liberties of the Thai people or to “duties of State”.
The bill must be accompanied by a set of principles, the rationale for introducing the bill, and an analysis and summary of the bill.
The bill must be supported by at least 20 initiators.
Proposed bills that meet these requirements go through a public hearing process, giving citizens the opportunity to share their opinions via the parliamentary website. They are then systematically assessed, including for any potential impacts on the law.
Proposed bills that fail to pass during the current parliamentary session, including where the Cabinet dissolves parliament, are discarded. However, this rule does not apply to citizen-initiated bills, which remain active at the start of the new parliamentary session. The new Cabinet then has three months to decide whether or not to act on them. If the Cabinet does not take action, the citizens’ group has the right to resubmit the bill.
The Clean Air Bill
The Clean Air Bill process began in January 2022, when CSOs drafted the first version of the bill and submitted this draft, placing the issues on the agenda. This action pressured the Cabinet and other political parties to submit their own drafts.
In January 2024, the House of Representatives decided to set up an ad hoc committee to study seven drafts of the Clean Air Bill. One draft came from the Cabinet, five from political parties and one from civil society. The ad hoc committee’s task was to prepare a final, consolidated version of the bill. This committee also has two subcommittees: one on framework and principles, and another on liabilities and enforcement of the draft law.
The Initiative Process Act states that one third of members of the ad hoc committee (13 out of 39 members) must be drawn from civil society. These members are selected from among the people and groups who proposed the legislation. All committee members, including those from civil society, have the same rights and equal voting power. Under this arrangement, civil society contributes in many different ways, both inside and outside parliament:
Challenges and obstacles to citizen-initiated legislation
The civil-society initiators of the Clean Air Bill have identified a number obstacles that they have had to overcome:
High costs: Implementing public participation is costly, particularly when it comes to collecting 10,000 signatures, participating in expert hearings and printing documents. All costs are paid by the civil-society participants themselves, as no funding is provided to support initiators of legislation.
Collecting signatures: During the COVID-19 pandemic, gathering signatures was particularly challenging owing to social distancing. Each signature requires a copy of a national ID, raising concerns about accessibility and privacy. A digital signature process is in place to facilitate the collection of signatures.
Time burden: The two subcommittees meet for a full day, two or three times a week. The full ad hoc committee meets every Friday, for four to five hours. No compensation is provided to civil-society participants for the time spent at these meetings.
Finding common ground: The various drafts of the Clean Air Bill reflect diverse paradigms, principles and approaches. The work of the ad hoc committee is characterized by constructive communication, but there can also be disagreements and clashes. The speakers at the webinar emphasized the importance of maintaining a positive atmosphere and the “need to work together”.
Lobbying: Lobbyists from industry groups participate in meetings as advisers but do not have voting rights.
Lengthy process: The Clean Air Bill process began in January 2022, but the ad hoc committee was not set up until January 2024. There is no indication of what the future holds.
Lessons for parliaments to consider
Agenda-setting: The right of citizens to initiate legislation is set out in the Constitution and in law. The threshold for the number of signatures required to initiate legislation should be achievable.
Representation: Once an initiative has met the threshold, the initiators are guaranteed representation in the parliamentary process for considering the proposal. Civil-society members of ad hoc committees participate with equal voting rights to other members.
Resources: In addition to the resources required by parliament to support the process, parliaments might wish to consider how to compensate or indemnify civil-society participants for the time spent and costs incurred.
“The Constitution of Thailand guarantees the right to initiate legislation, ensuring that citizen-initiated bills have greater protection than those introduced by MPs. This process continues beyond the end of a parliamentary term.”
Ms. Kanongnij Sribuaiam, Vice-Chair of the Clean Air Act Ad hoc Committee
