Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has reiterated that the general election processmust get off the ground in July of next year as stipulated in the government's 25-month political roadmap.
Gen Prayut says he wants the new constitution to meet international standards and be designed in a way that prevents it from being subject to constant amendments as thecabinet on Tuesday considered the first draft of the new charter presented by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC).
Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Gen Prayut said he had given cabinet members one week to study the draft charter and contribute their ideas. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam will gather opinions from the cabinet and submit them to the CDC for consideration.
The CDC will receive feedback from all stakeholders, as well as views from publicforums across the country, as it fine-tunes the final draft of the new charter before submitting it to the government by March 29.
Gen Prayut insisted that the roadmap leading to the general election in July of next year still stands. The election process must get under way in July 2017, he said.
"Everything must proceed in line with the roadmap. I insist that the election processmust start in July 2017," Gen Prayut said. The election can be earlier if other relatedprocesses such as the drafting of the new charter's organic laws are accelerated, he added, responding to growing concern that elections could be delayed until 2018.
The CDC on Jan 27 finalised the draft charter's provisional clauses, pushing the pollschedule to between July and November of next year.
The CDC is required to present a final draft of the new charter by early April, in line with a 180-day time frame for charter drafting included in the interim charter, after which preparations will get under way for the referendum scheduled for July. Thedraft charter referendum, if passed in July, is expected to receive royal endorsementthe following month.
Under this time frame, the CDC will spend eight months drawing up the charter's 10draft organic laws.
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) will then spend two months deliberating the draft laws.
Elections of MPs and senators will be held within 150 days of the enforcement of the 10 organic laws.
However, two of the provisional clauses of the draft charter stipulate that if the CDC fails to complete the 10 organic laws in eight months, the CDC will be dissolved and the National Council for Peace and Order will set up a new CDC to continue draftingthe 10 organic laws. The sections do not determine the time frame under which the new CDC would work.
The clauses have sparked concern among political observers that a new election could be delayed until 2018.
Gen Prayut said the new constitution should meet international standards, and it should not be subject to frequent change.
He also wanted the new charter to provide a guarantee that reforms initiated during this government, as well as its 20-year-national development strategy, will beimplemented successfully. This guarantee could be written in the new charter'sprovisional clauses, Gen Prayut suggested.
"I want what I have done today to happen in the future. With no guarantee, what is done will go to waste," he said.