I was being sarcastic about writing draft: Prayut

He said he just reiterated the point that if the charter did not pass the referendum, there would be a new charter drafted by someone, and if it was too much of a problem, he would do it. Prayut said he did not believe such a point would be reached. 

“I just articulated it. Can I really write it [a new charter] myself? Whose duty it is? Do we not actually have a charter drafting committee to do it, right? So, why so bothered exaggerating the matter?” said PM Prayut, in reply to reporters at his weekly briefing at Government House.

The PM had made a remark at the economic seminar on Monday, saying he would write a new charter himself if the draft charter failed to pass the referendum. But he retracted that a few hours later, saying his comment was an “unofficial remark” that should not be taken seriously.

“I said if there were too many problems, I might consider whether I should do it myself. I consider that an unofficial remark. Don’t take me too seriously,” the prime minister told reporters.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday that if the charter draft did not pass the referendum, the interim charter must be amended to pave way for a new draft to be written. 

“The amendment (of the interim charter) will be done immediately after the referendum result (of not passing) is known,’’ he said. There had been discussion about the matter but it had not yet occurred.

Wissanu said it was too late to postpone the referendum following the requirement under the interim charter. 

“Stepping back is not the way as we will move ahead with the referendum,’’ he said, adding that he had no idea if the government had the legal right to write the new draft itself, apparently responding to the prime minister’s – retracted – remark on Monday.

Gothom Arya, director of Mahidol University’s research centre for peace building, has floated a proposal that the 1997 Charter or 2007 Constitution be adopted if the new draft is rejected on August 7. 

Either could be “brushed up” to suit the present situation so that a general election could be held. He further recommended the new charter be used for only one term of an elected government, which should then call a new round of participatory-based charter drafting.

“This can be done by establishing a Constitution Drafting Assembly that will write the draft under a version – [with] public consensus,’’ he said. 

Gothom expected that the atmosphere for the referendum vote would be lacklustre and turnout less than targeted amid continued suppression of people’s opinions. He suggested that the Election Commission clearly announce that the public has the right to express opinions about the charter draft and that opponents of the draft with honest intent should not be suppressed.