Borwornsak hints at pressure from above after 'no' vote
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CDC chief says he won't work on writing charter again; others deny being lobbied
FORMER Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Borwornsak Uwanno hinted yesterday that former National Reform Council members from the military voted down the charter because of pressure from their superiors.
Speaking after the NRC voted down the charter draft, Borwornsak thanked the 105 NRC members who voted for the draft, especially General Lertrat Rattanavanich, General Nakhon Sukprasert and ADM Phajun Tamprateep.
Of 247 NRC members, 29 were police and military officers.
“Others had to heed the call from their superiors. It is normal and understandable. A CDC military member who had just been promoted to general abstained from voting. We understand that because he has to continue serving in his post,’’ Borwornsak said.
He refused to say if NRC members had succumbed to lobbying because that was now in the past.
Borwornsak had said earlier he would not accept the job to write the charter again and yesterday maintained that pledge. He said it was regrettable that several good provisions in the draft were not going to be put to use, such as reform measures and empowering people in general and women specifically, as well as empowering communities and the underprivileged.
“The voice of the people is not heard because the voice we hear the loudest in the media is the voice of politicians,’’ he said.
Former CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn said the CDC had worked under pressure. He said he wanted to reveal what had happened but given the situation the country was in, doing so was difficult.
Former CDC member Lt-General Navin Damrigan, who abstained from voting, denied that he had been asked by the government to send a signal to NRC members to vote down the draft.
He said he did not take an order from anyone. “I exercised my right. No one knew how I was going to vote. I took reasons and principles into consideration. No one lobbied me or instructed me in return for vested interests.”
He said that of 285 provisions in the charter draft, many were useful and worth being in the new charter.
Former CDC member Mechai Viravaidya said he was not disappointed that the NRC rejected the charter, saying the CDC did its duty to the best of its ability. Mechai
refused to say if the charter was
rejected because of lobbying.
“As you can see [those who rejected the draft] were all military officials and the one CDC member who abstained [was too],” he said.
“It is like anti-sentiment. When it turns out like this, we know that they belong to the government and what kind of order the government issued we can witness but [you will get] no criticism from us. And we are not sorry.”
Mechai said he did not know if he wanted to be on the charter-writing team again.
Former CDC member Thawilwadee Bureekul asked the media to ensure the new charter draft included provisions on women’s rights and equality, as well as rights for the underprivileged.
Former CDC member Supatra Nacapew said she felt sorry that many good provisions in the draft would be wasted and hoped the new draft was better than the one voted down.
