New charter drafters not well known to public, Nida Poll finds

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SURVEY
New charter drafters not well known to public, Nida Poll finds
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- LESS than half of people interviewed for a recent Nida Poll know or have heard the names of the 21 members of the new Constitution Drafting Committee.

Of 1,251 people across the country surveyed from October 8-9, 44 per cent said they had never heard of the names, while the same percentage had heard of only one to five names.

About 6 per cent of respondents said they heard of six to 10 names, 2 per cent had heard of 11-15 names and 1 per cent knew and heard of 16-20 names.

About 15 per cent were very confident in the new CDC because the members were highly knowledgeable and experienced in law and politics and understood the country's circumstances.

About 33 per cent were quite confident, but 20 per cent not quite confident, 11 per cent not confident at all and 18 per cent did not reply.

Those lacking full confidence noted that the CDC members had been hand-picked by the government and the National Council for Peace and Order, so they believed the new charter would not be democratic.

They felt that some provisions of the charter would favour certain groups and it would likely be voted down. Some said this was just the government's ploy to extend its stay in power.

According to another survey by Dusit Poll, people want the CDC and the National Reform Steering Committee to make them their first priority.

Nationwide, 1,247 people were questioned from October 5-10 for the Dusit Poll.

The top 10 points that the CDC should keep in mind were as follows:

Take into account the public interest as its first priority - 84 per cent

Heed public opinion and allow public participation - 78 per cent

 Apply past lessons and plug loopholes - 74 per cent

Adhere to principles of justice and write strongly democratic laws - 71 per cent

 Do not allow political interference and take a firm working stance - 67 per cent

Consider both the current and long-term situations - 64 per cent

 Promote national reconciliation - 62 per cent

 Do not be too egotistic but be unified - 57 per cent

 Focus on battling corruption - 55 per cent

 The country should not waste time and money drafting the charter - 52 per cent

The top 10 issues for the NRSC were as follows:

The most urgent problems such as the economy and cost of living - 80 per cent

 The public interest, and honesty and fairness in their work - 80 per cent

Public opinions, so they know how to address the root causes of problems and reform the country - 73 per cent.

 Conflicts and reconciliation - 72 per cent.

Working together in the same direction - 66 per cent.

 Sustaining education reform - 63 per cent

Applying their skills and experience for the country's benefit and learning from mistakes - 59 per cent.

Corruption and inequality - 56 per cent

Clear guidelines for reform on 11 fronts so that they can be put into practice with concrete results - 53 per cent

 Completing reform before a general election is held - 51 per cent

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/New-charter-drafters-not-well-known-to-public-Nida-30270678.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-12

[chainarong]

Perhaps the new draft charters are working on reverse physcology , the less that's known about them , the less they will get abused or even more daring , if it all goes a!!se up later on down the track ( during Democracy ), no one will know who to blame.

[Praematura]

I wonder if the pm calls over to these Nida folks and tells them what the poll numbers are because we all know they are not representative of the publics opinion of his stewardship of the Thaitanic.

[jerojero]

Why is this a surprise? When appointments of military cronies abound. And how many citizens actually know leaders of the military!

[DM07]

In other unrelated news: the sun rose in the east, this morning...

[Tonawatchee]

It would be interesting to see which provinces supplied the poll information.