Make constructive charter suggestions now
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stresses that the charter draft is still a work in progress and nothing is yet written in stone.
This, then, is the perfect time for us to follow the advice of Dean Acheson, former US secretary of state: “The chief must … consider opposing views, put forward as ably as possible. He must examine the proponents vigorously and convince them that he knows the record, is intolerant of superficiality or of favour-seeking, and not only welcomes but demands criticism.”
At the same time, critics should be constructive, rather than just point out flaws in the draft. They can learn from Franklin Roosevelt, who, according to political scientist James D Barber, “learned to seek solutions which would not so much compromise among competing interests as transcend them, include them, give each at least something and the hope of more”.
Burin Kantabutra
