Politics caught in a loop of closed charter drafting and violence: academic
THE DRAFT constitution will not end conflict because it was drafted in a relatively closed environment without adequate public participation just like the 2007 charter, a prominent academic told a seminar yesterday.
Thammasat University political science lecturer Chalidaphorn Songsampan said society has been in a divided and distrustful state with periodic violence for a long time, which has shaken the core of politics.
People had hoped the charter drafting would bring about reconciliation with renewed efforts to bring people from different factions together, Chalidaphorn said.
“The drafting process should serve that purpose by providing space for people to talk. But what we have now … it is the same as what we had in 2007,” said Chalidaphorn, referring to the charter drafting process involving little public participation.
“So, we are in this loop [of constitution writing]. And it does not solve the problem,” she said.
Chalidaphorn was among the speakers at the academic seminar examining the constitution draft at Chulalongkorn University, which was jointly hosted by the university’s political science faculty, Thammasat University, Ubon Ratchathani University and Mahidol University.
She added that she believed most people had already decided how to vote in the Sunday’s referendum, not based on their evaluations of the draft content, but on other factors.
“Many of us fear the conflict will persist while others may be afraid because they don’t know what the result will yield,” Chalidaphorn said.
She urged people to be optimistic and not to vote based on fear, adding that otherwise the country would not be able to exit the loop of closed charter drafting and conflict.
Gothom Arya, a rights advocate and professor at Mahidol University, said the constitution would be almost impossible to amend because it would require the approval of all parties including the Senate and the opposition.
He emphasised that the Senate, which would be selected by the junta, would be the determining factor regarding constitutional amendments.
Soraj Hongladarom, a Chulalongkorn philosophy lecturer, said ethical guidelines that would control politicians is an issue because it would be difficult to determine what constitutes unethical behaviour.
If every case has to go to court, it would be a heavy workload for the judiciary, he said.
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