THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Govt bans campaigns, T-shirts on charter vote

Govt bans campaigns,  T-shirts on charter vote

Pepple not permitted to wear "vote yes" or "vote no" shirts before August referendum

CAMPAIGNING for or against the draft constitution, including wearing T-shirts with slogans on them, will not be allowed in the lead-up to the referendum on the charter, a chief government figure said yesterday.
“You can like or dislike (the charter) but don’t express it (to the public) and keep it inside your head. Those wearing ‘Vote No’ or ‘Vote Yes’ T-shirts will have them taken off,” Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said. 
Prawit was responding to anti-charter groups, like the Network of Academics for Civil Rights, whose members wore T-shirts with a “Vote No” logo when they read out a statement on Sunday outlining five arguments against the charter at a press conference.
Politicians and activists cried foul over a restrictive regulation in the referendum bill, as it appears that they cannot express their opinions freely on the charter. 
The Election Commission (EC) is yet to come up with a clear stance on public campaigns or a list of “do’s and don’ts” ahead of the referendum.
Thanit Sripratet, deputy secretary-general of the commission, said the EC was still working on the campaigning part, as that was unclear in the referendum bill. 
However, to make it clear, the EC may have to wait for passage of the bill so that it can take the penalties that wrongdoers will face into consideration, he said.
In its meeting yesterday, the EC agreed the referendum will be held on August 7.
Boonyakiat Rakchatcharoen, acting secretary-general of the agency, said the EC had prepared further regulations to implement the scheduled date, pending promulgation of the referendum law, which has already been endorsed by the National Legislative Assembly.
The EC also backed the printing of one million copies of the new charter, along with four million copies of charter summaries, four million more copies of the NLA’s explanations on the additional question and 17 million copies of a booklet summarising key charter issues. 
The booklets will be ready for |delivery to households on May 23.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam denied that old charters would be adapted if the new charter did not pass the referendum, saying only that he had said it could be done. 
He said it would not make sense and would be inexplicable if the 2007 or 1997 charters, which were torn down after recent coups, were put in place again. Only their good parts should be brought back for use, and this could be possible.
Ultimately it was up to the National Council for Peace and Order to make a decision if the charter was turned down, he said. But any new charter drafting must still stick to the framework given under Article 35 of the 2014 Interim Constitution.
“To this point, we have not prepared any way out. So, be calm, it’s only three months away,” he said. Fifty million people would make a decision at the referendum, and he would not say anything about it that could be misleading. 
In related news, the Constitution Drafting Commission panel tasked with preparing charter information for dissemination revealed that it has come up with two sets. 
One is for the CDC’s spokespeople, and the other covers 10-20 simplified issues people would need to know about.
The CDC, which will hold rallies nationwide to explain the charter to the public, has not yet settled how many presentations would be staged, Theinchai Na Nakorn, a member of the CDC panel, said.
Meanwhile, red-shirt leader Nuttawut Saikuar called for the government to open space for all parties to express their opinions, saying that otherwise their publicity campaign would backfire.
He warned against the government’s move to detain anyone who voiced opposition to the charter, as had happened to key Pheu Thai figure Watana Muangsuk. 
The custody measure under special order Article 44 could also overrule the referendum bill, he said, as well as undermine the country’s reputation among the international community. 
 
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