Plot thickens as high political drama on charter unfolds

Unofficially, they have been bending over backwards to convince the public that they are standing firm on their respective positions.

The public drama on Tuesday was utterly engrossing for all those who are trying to understand what is really going on between the premier and the chief charter writer.

The latest episode began last week when General Prayut, who is both chairman of the coup-making National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and prime minister, called a meeting of the so-called “five rivers” to discuss political developments, especially progress in the drafting the new constitution.

All the heads were present, except for Meechai, who told reporters he had asked to be excused to avoid being put in a position of having to commit himself over certain requests he might not feel comfortable about. The premier gave a somewhat different version a few days later: Meechai was absent because he had not been invited to the meeting.

Then on Sunday, March 13, a six-page note signed by NCPO Secretary General Theerachai Nakwanich, who is also Army commander-in-chief, was delivered to the CDC chairman.

Details of the “urgent note” were leaked the following day, perhaps deliberately by members of CDC, whose spokesman said, half-jokingly, that some of the proposed clauses would make one “fall off one’s chair”. Meechai was quoted as saying in jest that people might “faint” upon reading some of the suggestions in the document.

The Cabinet was supposed to meet on Tuesday to discuss the NCPO’s note – a puzzling development in itself since the NCPO is supposed to be above the Cabinet in the chain of command.

In fact, the Cabinet itself had earlier submitted a 16-point proposal to the CDC and the controversial 16th point had sparked heated debate about “special power during the transition period” in the provisional clause of the draft constitution.

The Cabinet didn’t offer a detailed explanation as had been rumoured earlier in the day. That same morning, rumours ran wild that CDC chief Meechai was considering quitting his post. He met reporters and denied the story.

A few hours later, Premier Prayut talked to the press – and issued strong requests that the CDC comply with the NCPO’s recommendations. If the requests were ignored, he declared, the NCPO would keep sending the recommendations until the CDC went along with them.

“If the draft isn’t satisfactory, it will be rewritten. I have the power [to do so]. After all, our responsibility is towards the peace and security of the country,” he announced.

Meechai then told reporters that he believed the NCPO had a right to make recommendations. “We will of course consider the proposals. I don’t think the prime minister expects all the suggestions to be accepted. We will consider the proposed changes based on reason and what’s good for the country,” he said, perhaps trying to soothe observers’ growing anxiety.

That same evening, reporters spotted the premier’s spokesman, Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd, waiting in front of Meechai’s office. He had been instructed by the premier to “clear the air” with Meechai and apologise for any possible misunderstanding of what he had said earlier in the day.

“The premier told me to explain to Mr Meechai that he was speaking like a military man but that this didn’t mean there was a conflict between him and Mr Meechai. In fact, the premier greatly appreciates Mr Meechai’s sacrifice in assuming this task, which has understandably put him under great pressure from society as a whole. The premier said he would come to meet Mr Meechai personally soon,” the spokesman said.

Prayut had no doubt made a quick decision to patch things up with the CDC chief before things got out of hand. He didn’t want to be seen to be putting direct pressure on Meechai – but then he was likely still insisting on the three main proposals in the “urgent note” as follows:

1. The Senate should be an appointed body with at least six of its 250 seats reserved for security officers, namely the Defence Permanent Secretary, the supreme commander, the Army, Navy and Air Force commanders and the national police chief. The Senate can’t vote to pick the prime minister but should be empowered to “safeguard the constitution, supervise national reform and national strategic plan”.

2. Election of 500 MPs, comprising 350 directly elected representatives and 150 from the party list.

3. Scrap the CDC’s earlier proposal to have all political parties present a list of no more than three candidates for the premiership upon registering to run in elections.

Is a compromise on the horizon? That all depends on whether the big players in the “five rivers” can work out a formula that serves both to calm the NCPO’s fear of a resumption of political violence and also to satisfy the CDC’s need to convince the public that it’s not at the junta’s beck and call.

Most importantly, the final version of the draft must dispel lingering concern that the military brass intends on clinging to power after an election. Every time the top brass issues an official denial in response to such fears, suspicion grows.

Arriving at a charter draft that would pass the upcoming public referendum seems an almost impossible scenario. But then, we have been stuck in a maze of impossibilities for over a decade now.