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Faith in charter draft eroded over final days
KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN,
PIYAPORN WONGRUANG
THE NATION


Ekachai

EXCESSIVE POWER OF CRISIS PANEL WAS KEY FACTOR IN DEATH OF DRAFT

BANGKOK: -- THE National Reform Council (NRC) shocked many observers when it rejected the charter draft. Its 247 members sat down to vote on September 6, but 135 of them rejected the draft and seven abstained.

Despite widespread criticism of the draft, many of the junta-appointed NRC members had been putting a positive spin on it for weeks before the vote.

Highly placed members of the government, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the NRC itself, the key players deemed influential in determining the fate of the draft, had appeared satisfied.

The anti-junta camp had also believed the charter would easily be approved since much of it had been written in favour of the current regime, such as the provisions for a non-elected prime minister, politically appointed senators and the all-powerful National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Committee (NSRRC), which could overrule the executive and legislative branches.

In the initial draft submitted to the NRC for a week-long deliberation in April, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) had proposed two new agencies to drive reform: the National Reform Steering Council and the National Strategic Reform Committee. These agencies would help each other to drive and develop reform policies based on the NRC's proposals and see through the implementation by concerned agencies, including the government as well as parliament.

In the end, Cabinet decided that those mechanisms would not work in the same direction if separated. So, it was suggested that the CDC merge them together as one agency and the NSRRC was born.

"It was satisfied to have it to help relieve the [future elected] government's burden," the CDC said in a press release.

Paiboon Nititawan, an NRC member and charter drafter, said the NSRRC was one of the most important trigger points that drew strong opposition, especially among political parties and groups.

Those groups were unhappy, he said, as they saw their power weakened by the NSRRC. The CDC attempted to satisfy them by removing some controversial points, including the inclusion of political groups to compete with political parties in election.

However, when the final details of the NSRRC was revealed to the public after the charter was submitted to the NRC on August 22, political parties unleashed their opposition.

"We thought they would let it pass in the NRC's vote but what was unexpected was that they demanded it be shot down in the NRC's meeting or they would galvanise supporters to shoot it down in the referendum," Paiboon said.

Politicians clearly did not wish to see their power lost to the NSRRC, Paiboon suggested.

General Ekachai Srivilas, another NRC member, said other criticisms were based on the perception that the draft charter would ensure a weak government and parliament.

Opposition to the draft intensified with arguments against some NRC members from the CDC in the NRC line group, who posted "bluffing" messages claiming to already have secured over 200 "yes" votes.

Rumours also went viral that there had been exchanges of seats on the new reform steering council proposed under the interim charter to replace the NRC, but Ekachai said he could not confirm this. He said the votes from the military representatives were also a surprise as they hardly had a united voice during the previous deliberations.

That coupled with the NSRRC, which came back in more detail at the last minute, made things unacceptable to many of them.

So what happened in the days prior to the NRC vote?

Other than the fact that the draft was deemed undemocratic and could lead to deepening political confrontations, at least three factors could have led to the rejection.

Firstly, dissension in the ranks of the NRC caused provincial representatives to band together.

Tiwa Karnkrasang, an NRC member representing Buri Ram province and the group's de facto coordinator, said that provincial NRC members felt members of the CDC had "looked down on them", considered them intellectually inferior and deemed them "easily convinced" or "lobbied" by others.

This, combined with controversial provisions such as the NSRRC and the outsider prime minister, prompted the group to reject the draft written by "gods and goddess drafters". At the meeting at the Pullman Hotel, Tiwa managed to convince 62 of the 77 provincial NRC members, which accounted for 46 per cent of the total "no" votes.

The second factor was the group consisting of security officers and public servants, which accounted for 63, or about 47 per cent, of the "no" votes. Many believed they were influenced by the government.

The NRC consists of 33 military officers, 30 of whom voted against the draft.

Ekachai, who abstained from voting, observed that two permanent secretaries, one from the National Resources and Environment Ministry and the other from the Energy Ministry, also voted "no".

Some observers believe the junta orchestrated the rejection of the charter because it wanted to buy more time and feared that rejection in a referendum could further hurt its perceived legitimacy.

However, one NRC member in the Army told The Nation on the condition of anonymity said no one should be surprised because "they all went to the same school and received the same training".

The third factor, which was unforeseen, was the "self-fulfilling prophecy" effect.

Many media reports in the run-up to the vote suggested that a lot of groups disapproved of the draft and eventually fewer NRC members may have wanted to be on the losing side. Those who were on the fence saw the trend was overwhelmingly against the draft and likely decided to jump ship at the last minute.

Amorn Wanichwiwatana was one such NRC member, who told The Nation he was happy about the draft charter and would endorse it - only to end up rejecting it.

"In the last days, we discussed many things and I learned that many were going to vote against it. So, I had second thoughts," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Faith-in-charter-draft-eroded-over-final-days-30268738.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-14

[FangFerang]

This reads like a discussion about a conversation overheard by someone who had it repeated for me.

[Laughing Gravy]

I stopped reading less than halfway down. Those with a meager intellect know it is more time for those in power to cream as much as possible.

[Srikcir]

NRC vote motivated by politics to reject an anti-political charter.

I bet Prayut never saw that coming. But then, as a politician himself (albeit with a very small constituency), he should have.