CDC unsure about some Cabinet charter suggestions

Commission spokesman Amorn Wanitwiwat said the CDC would announce its decisions on major issues to the public immediately after they were made.
Amorn said the CDC had asked the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) many times if it wanted the charter draft to be accepted by the public in the upcoming referendum.
He said the NCPO wanted the charter to be accepted so a general election could be held in accordance with the road map to democracy.
“The NCPO does not have the objective to sabotage the charter draft in order to cling to power,” Amorn said.
He said the CDC had reviewed 60 of 270 articles in the first charter draft and had taken into account the opinions and suggestions of all sectors.
The revision of the charter will not affect the main principles set out by the CDC, Article 35 of the 2014 interim charter or the five objectives of the NCPO, Amorn added.
National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) deputy chairman Alongkorn Ponlaboot said the Cabinet had given the CDC 16 questions about revisions to the charter draft.
He said the main question centred on what measures were in place to prevent the country from experiencing the same political crisis that led to the May 2014 coup.
He suggested two charter sections aimed at preventing political violence from intensifying into a national crisis.
Alongkorn said the first part of the charter draft, which should be eventually put in force permanently, must include a democratic system that included internationally accepted political norms such as elections, elected senators, and a balance of power in government, the Parliament and the courts.
The rights and liberties of the people should be stated clearly in accordance with international standards, and the charter should be subject to amendment.
Alongkorn said the second part of the charter draft, which addressed the transition period leading to an elected government, should include the provisional clauses such as a non-elected PM, non-elected senators and other mechanisms designed to prevent another national crisis.
 The procedures and timeframe should be indicated clearly, while the CDC should invite politicians from both camps to discuss
issues related to the transitional period.
“To heal the political rift and national divide and create national reconciliation, both sides of the political rivalry must team up to address the issues. No power can force them to reconcile. Myanmar is the best example [of that],” Alongkorn said.
NRSA political reform committee spokesman Wanchai Sornsiri said he supported the Cabinet’s proposal to have a transitional period.
“If we have full democracy now, we may go back to square one as many people and the NCPO worry about,” he said.
“We must balance between stability and democracy and peace. The transitional period is not about the military’s attempt to continue its power,’’ he said.