NATTAYA CHETCHOTIORS:

Bangkok Post, July 23, 2007: Some law lecturers at Thammasat University are urging people not to approve the draft charter, which they say will lead to government by an aristocracy.

The academics are demanding the government reinstate the 1997 constitution right away to ensure a general election this year. The group consists of Worachet Pakeerut, Piyabut Saengkanokkul, Theera Sutheewarangkul, Prasit Piwawathanapanich, Janjira Jemmayura and Thapanant Nipitthakul.

Releasing their statement yesterday, Mr. Worachet said people should reject the draft charter in the Aug 19 referendum because that was the only way to express their disapproval of the janta and the aristocracy.

Rejection through the referendum was a peaceful way of the demanding the coup leaders' departure and return of the rule of law to pave the way for the return of democracy.

If the draft is rejected, Mr.Worachet said, the Council for National Security ( CNS ) should reinstate the 1997 constitution without any amendment within 15 days, and hold the general election within the following 60 days. This allow elections this year, as the government and other parties expect.

The law lecturers also demanded that the CNS, the National Legislative Assembly, the Constitution Drafting Assembly and the Assets scrutiny committee ( ASC ) step down.

The ASC could transfer its investigations to the National Counter Corruption Commission, they said.

The Surayud Chulanont administration could stay until there is a new government. Independent organisations should continue their work for up to 18 months, in order to end their terms simultaneously with a constitution reform organisation the next parliament would establish.

The constitution reform organisastion could write another charter which would be really democratic and mend the damage caused by the old constitution and orders linked to the military junta.

The group cited the Constitution tribunal's order suspending the political rights of 111 former executives of the Thai Rak Thai party for five years as an example of the some of the damage that needs to mended.

“They will lose their political rights for five years. This is the result of the coup announcement that has an adverse retroactive effect on those people. I don't think it is fair,” Mr. Worachet said.

The statement said rejection of the draft charter would not cause the postponement of the general election. The polls could be called right away if the 1997 constitution were reinstated, along with the 1998 laws on the election of a House of Representatives and Senate.

The Constitution Drafting Committee did not need to draw up a new election law.

The statement said the new charter came from the coup council, which appointed the members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly, directly selected 10 members of the assembly's 35-member constitution Drafting Committee and selected the chairman of the drafting committee.

The lectures think the drafters were influenced by the CNS and other people. They intended to undermine political rivals and prevent them returning to power.

The draft charter is non-democratic because it reduces the people's exercise of power through elected representatives and senators while increasing the political power and roles of senior government officials and the judiciary, the academics said.

Senior government officials and the judiciary would control a committee wich would appoint 74 out of 150 senators.

As senators would have power to expel senior political officials, it was unfair to authorize appointed people to oust elected through eight clusters of the provinces. This system would discourage political parties from drawing up good policy platforms for the whole nation, it said.

Under the old system, the whole nation was a single constituency for the party-list election.

The academics also disagree with the charter giving amnesty to the coup council and others working under its order. Giving the same amnesty as that under the interim constitution would be tantamount to protecting the coup council and its associates no matter what they do in the future, the academics said.