FOLLOWING mounting pressure, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that he would shorten the road map timeline and hold a general election in less than the previously planned 20 months.
The idea was discussed during a joint meeting of the Cabinet, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), chaired by Prayut.
The premier said the timeline for a new draft could possibly be shortened, as Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam had earlier indicated. For example, he said the previously envisaged "6-4-6-4" formula, with each number referring to the number of months required for each step of the charter-drafting, consideration and referendum process, could be changed to "4-3.5-4-3.5" instead.
This would make it roughly 15 months, rather than 20 as had been planned.
Prayut also said that the process of charter-writing in Samut Khoi (Thai traditional book), as a traditional way to record charter documents, would consume most of the time in the drafting process as it required pure handwriting to complete the book.
"It will take time because the law says so, and I have to follow it," the premier said. "It's not that I want to stay [in power] longer."
NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said yesterday's meeting had discussed preparation for the formation of a National Reform Steering Committee (NRSC) and a new Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), because the NLA had to coordinate with the two agencies to draft bills as stipulated in the first amendment to the 2014 interim charter.
Prayut said he might select the CDC members before his departure to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, but final approval will be given after he returns next month. The controversial National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee (NSRCC) is needed to keep peace in the country, the premier said.
"Election is not everything for democracy. Rather, what matters is that those elected need to have good governance," he stressed.