Draft charter needs votes to make it true social contract: CDC chief

CONSTITUTION Drafting Committee (CDC) chairman Borwornsak Uwanno says he wanted the people of Thailand to decide on the draft charter so it can be a true “social contract”. 

Borwornsak said it could only be that when the people, holding sovereign power, make a decision on the draft. 

He said drafters would not have dared to draw up the ‘five-year democracy in transition’ in the charter if there was no national referendum on it. 

Borwornsak urged people not to argue that there is a hidden agenda in the charter. He said he was ready to be open and explain to the 49 million eligible voters before they decide how to vote on it.

The referendum was viewed by the CDC as a final testament, and people’s representatives should listen to this voice, he said. 

Borwornsak said he would accept the outcome regardless of how it turned out. However, he urged that everyone think hard about who would gain or lose in regard to acceptance of the charter. 

Conditions for the charter drafting this time were different from those in 1997, he said. The charter written in that year was supported by three key factors – the use of knowledge, a social movement, and political will.

Meanwhile, CDC member Paiboon Nititawan responded to |a complaint filed to the Ombudsmen, asking them to look into whether CDC members have the right to |vote on the draft charter – as that could be a conflict of interest.

Paiboon insisted that CDC members have the right to vote on the matter according to Article 18 and 31 of the 2014 interim charter. Paiboon said he would investigate the issue and some efforts that seek to undermine the National Reform Council’s credibility.

In a related development, Prasarn Marukatuk, an NRC political reform committee member, held a press conference to explain the National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee. 

He said it arose not from a National Council for Peace and Order’s order, but from a necessary transitional condition for the country.

The People’s Democratic Reform Committee, meanwhile, will hold a press conference today to express its stance on the draft charter, PDRC spokesperson Akanat Promphan said.