An insider's view on the upcoming Thai charter vote

What will actually happen on Sunday? What are the procedures that will take place?

On Sunday, we will deliberate a question which we will be allowed to put into the nationwide referendum (on the charter.) Right now the two questions that we are deliberating between is “Should there a two-year reform period before the next election?” or “Should there be a national government to reform the country?” After we choose the question, we will vote on the charter.

 

What happens if the reform council rejects the charter?

If the NRC rejects the charter, the government will then forma new drafting committee. They will given 180 days to come up with anew constitution and after that there will be a referendum. Regardless of what happens on Sunday, the NRC will be disbanded after the vote.

 

Has the National Reform Council been told to vote one way or another by the military junta?

They can yell and shout all they want but we have our own minds in the end.

Have the workings and processes of the reform council been completely independent from army interference then? 

Of course they try to influence us. There are many orders and requests which we have torn up. But of course there are also some compromises where we have to listen. 

 

What do you think of the merits of the constitution? Specifically the clause about an “emergency committee” that can step in and take power any time it deems necessary?

You have to take (the entire constitution) as a package into consideration. People are not very happy with (the committee clause) and the provisions for how the senate is selected, where they are not directly elected. But there are many positive things within the constitution as well. We will have a mandate for national strategy, something we never had before. This will help reforms and benefit sectors like healthcare, energy and the economy. Therefore the reform council has to weigh both the good and the bad of the constitution.

 

So you don’t agree with the political parties who argue that the committee will make government unworkable in the future?

 I feel that politicians have wasted a lot of public money. If they want to keep playing their political games, they can do that. But economically, our country cannot take this kind of bickering any longer.

 

Finally, do you feel the charter will be endorsed and go to a nationwide referendum? 

I think the answer is yes. The country needs to move on from this. The only other option is for a new drafting committee to come up with a new constitution, and what guarantees do we have that the new constitution will be any better? Thailand is not the only country going through a democratic transition. All our neighbouring countries are. It is a painful process that we don’t want our economy to go through. Our economy had been taken hostage by the political process.