Prayut vows to keep his hands off new charter

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha said he did not want to draft the new charter himself, as it would cause trouble and cast doubts on whether the country will be able to return to full-fledged democracy once the constitution is enshrined. 

He said this as Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan admitted that there might be a need to include “transitional provisions” in the new draft charter to ensure that Thailand can sail through this transitional period.

Prayut said it was imperative to identify the root causes of problems that Thailand is facing before a new charter can be drafted that addresses the need for change and improvement of the country. The PM said the debate was whether there might be a need to introduce a transitional system or whether the Kingdom was ready to return to a full-fledged electoral democratic system once the new charter goes into effect. 

Prayut insisted that if the situation were “normal”, he would not be in power today.

Prawit, meanwhile, elaborated that Thailand might need transitional provisions under the new charter to help it navigate through this transitional period, though he did not explain exactly what was needed and the exact nature of this transitional period. He said the public should find the new 21-person charter drafting committee acceptable and it should do its best. 

“Right now, the charter-drafting process has started [again], while the country is in a transitional period, hence transitional provisions are needed in order to ensure that the country is peaceful and can move towards becoming fully democratic. That’s why [transitional provisions] may be needed. I’m just saying ‘maybe’, I don’t know yet if there will be one or not, and this is my personal opinion,” the deputy prime minister said, adding that the time frame for the process could be less than 20 months. 

Prawit also refused to speculate on who would chair the new charter drafting committee. So far, three names have come up for the job, including former prime minister Anand Panyarachun and Meechai Ruchuphan, a former National Legislative Assembly Speaker appointed after the 2006 coup.

The third name is that of Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, though he said yesterday that he wouldn’t take up the position, as he is deputy prime minister and a politician, and hence not eligible. When asked if he would resign as deputy PM to take up the post, he said no. 

As for the 200-person Reform Steering Council, Prawit said a vetting committee would be set up to come up with names. 

Former charter drafter Tawilwadee Burikul, meanwhile, cast doubts on whether 20 months would be enough for the Reform Steering Council to push for reform and called for a mechanism to ensure the continuity of reform and reconciliation.

Meanwhile, National Legislative Assembly (NLA) member Somchai Sawaengkarn yesterday urged the new charter drafting committee to adopt the reform proposals that had been dropped by the previous Constitution Drafting Committee |to ensure that wide-ranging reform can be pursued under the new charter. 

Separately, Sathit Wongnongtaey, a former key member of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, said the new People’s Democratic Reform Foundation would try to ensure that the new charter includes provisions for various reforms and would closely monitor the drafting process.

NLA President Pornpetch Wichitchonchai said the new drafting panel should exclude politicians and include at least one or two NLA members, because the assembly has to handle the passing of organic laws under the new charter.