By September 19 Alliance of the Coup d'?tat
121/40 Soi Chalearmlar, Phayathai Road Khet Ratchadevi Bangkok 10400
www.wevoteno.net
Preface
At present, by order of the junta, various government offices are exerting all their efforts and resources to control television channels and radio stations which are supervised by the army to follow a propaganda campaign in order to deceive and mislead the people to vote in favour of the draft junta's constitution. The main reason, which is wrong and illegal, claimed by these government offices is that the people of Thailand shall accept the junta's constitution as a way to show their respect to His Majesty the King for his 80 th birthday.
This, what you are holding in your hand, is a People's Guideline to Vote “No” to the Junta's Constitution. This is one of the efforts by the September 19 Alliance Against Dictatorship. This booklet does not only quote the context released by the government's media which is not true but the subject matter of this booklet is that we would like to send the message to all of you to Vote “ No ” on 19 th August 2007, to the Junta's Constitution. This is not only to exercise your political right openly but also to destroy any successors of the junta who are paving their way for a future coup!
junta
September 19 Alliance Against the Coup
What is the Junta's version of the Referendum?
In a modern democracy, a referendum is one of the essential procedures that allow the people to exercise their rights and to participate in the decision making process of any major or critical issue that is more important to society than the decision to vote through general elections.
But the “Referendum” under the Interim Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Temporary) B.E. 2549 is certainly a weird and bizarre one! It is a referendum to approve the draft constitution drafted by the dictator-appointed bodies. This constitution drafting committee has been established by the junta who committed the coup d'?tat and ripped apart the democratically drafted Constitution of 1997! If the people do not accept the draft proposed by the junta, the junta shall be entitled to sherry-pick any previous constitution and enforce it at their will. The junta further insists that if the junta's constitution is not accepted, there is no ‘guarantee' that the people will get anything better!
Thus, the junta's referendum is nothing else than a political black-mail by the group of people who just abolished democracy in Thailand and then force the people to swallow the consequences of it.
Why must the public vote “No” to the Junta's Constitution?
The Junta always alleges that the people admire the Junta, how their coup was welcomed with flowers and photo shootings by the public with tanks! They always quoted the public poll result showing 80% of the people admire them. On the other hand, they use all means to suppress the opposite opinion. They sent troops and tanks to seize the radio stations, television stations and also they “ instruct ” newspapers to present all news in the direction guided by the junta. (Unfortunately the mass media this time enjoys moving along in the same direction as the junta.) Many websites were closed down like never before. Rights to gather or to protest are restricted. Any freedom of political thinking is neither guaranteed nor allowed. All the alleged admirations for the junta are just fake!
For anyone who shares a different idea than the one of the junta may be deemed to give in to the junta's system if we vote in the upcoming referendum. But this is the only chance that the people of Thailand can express their independent view to vote “ NO ” to the constitution which means we vote “NO” to the coup d'?tat!
5 questions and 5 answers
1. Is it legal to vote “NO” to the Junta's Constitution?
The junta has been pushing for the success of the referendum. They adopted all means and styles. For example, the Navy Radio Station broadcasts a campaign urging the people to accept the junta's constitution to show their loyalty to His Majesty the King in light of his 80 th birthday celebrations. Or various comments were made by the army and the government that voting “No” to the constitution is illegal!
Every citizen has the right to vote “No” against the Junta's Constitution. This is how the people exercise their rights as the true owners of sovereign power!
To pursue a “ Vote No ” campaign is also a form of expression of thoughts and ideas as well as a constitutional right of each citizen to participate in political development
This is a campaign to vote “NO” to the referendum, not a campaign to overthrow democracy!
Assistance Professor, Dr. Vorajade Pakeerat
The Head of the Public Law Division, Faculty of Law
Thammasat University .
2. If we vote “No” to the Junta's Constitution, what will happen?The upcoming referendum on 19 th August 2007 will be Thailand 's first referendum after being suppressed by the junta for the last 11 months. Many view that to vote “ NO ” to the junta's constitution may not create such an impact because, at the end of the day when the referendum will be rejected by the Thai people, the junta will cherry-pick any previous constitution in their favor any way!
What will happen?
Dr. Niti Aiewsriwong, Professor
Midnight University .
1) Our action will continue to play a role in the peoples' movement and participation in politics and it shall be the beginning of the peoples' force such as that the junta has to adopt the democratically drafted Constitution of 1997.
2) We must revert our country to a “ semi-democracy ”.
3) A lesson learned by society as a whole that the coup d'?tat is not a solution of any democracy dispute, both in Thailand and the world.
3. What should motivate you to Vote “No”?
The junta and their subordinate government officials are afraid of the peoples' intelligence. That's why they use unlimited resources and tactics to push the junta's constitution through by means of the referendum. The people who will vote “NO” to the junta's constitution on 19 th August 2007 do not vote in his or her individual capacity but also as part of the Thai society sending a strong massage to the junta.
To all our Thai friends who love the following:
1) Love to take part in political reform – desire political reform because the existing regulations were deficient, raised too many problems while the regulations enacted by the Council for Democratic Reform or the junta are obsolete and unfair.
2) Love democracy – wish to see more open-mined and liberal political reform, wish to see an equal society where everyone's idea is fairly respected without dictatorship.
3) Love a peaceful social democratic society – desire to see Thai society with forums for all arguments and exchange of ideas in a peaceful and equal society.
Those 3 things above will be neither guaranteed nor available under the draft Junta's Constitution.
Dr. Kasien Techapeera, Assistance Professor
Faculty of Political Sciences, Thammasat University
4. If we Vote “No” to the Junta's Constitution, will it delay the election process?The Junta always misleads the public that if the referendum fails, then this will delay the election which they promised will take place in 2007, or even lead to civil riots. The Junta views that the people must vote in favour of the Junta's Constitution, it is the only choice the people have.
However, section 32 of the Interim Constitution stipulates that if the people disapprove the draft of the Constitution 2007 then, the Council for National Security must meet with the government to revise one of the past Constitutions of Thailand. And this revised Constitution, whichever one they choose, must be completed within 30 days. Therefore the people must demand that the Constitution of 1997 will be adopted and revised as minimal as possible. Further we shall also demand that all Organic Acts relating to the Constitution are in compliance with the Constitution. In such case, the election can take place within 2 months from the date of failure of the referendum. All of this is dependant on the sincerity of those in power whether they truly want to be in favour of any political group of individuals or not.
Mr. Prasit Pivawattanapanitch, Assistance Professor
Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
5. If we Vote “NO” to the Junta's Constitution; are we stuck with an ‘ancient' constitution?The junta usually suppresses the people that there is no guarantee that the Coup may bring back the Constitution of 1978 or 1991 which were very out-dated and undemocratic, even worse than the junta's version of 2007, if the Junta's Constitution does not pass the referendum. Therefore the best way is for the people to vote in favour of the draft Junta's Constitution (even with some defects!)
The reason we will be stuck with an out-dated constitution does not derive from the coup, but because we let just a “ few good men ” at the top of their ivory tower, backed by guns and tanks, draft this constitution.
We need to bring the constitution drafting process back to the people and let the mainstream of the Thai society determine what needs to be written into the constitution including why and how. With the junta's supervision and control this can and will never happen! To have an out-dated constitution does not affect the right to vote against the draft constitution. The utmost objective is to return the drafting process of the Constitution back to the society. The society shall specify the amendments based on their knowledge and current problems. This cannot and will not happen when the draft of the Constitution is drafted under the junta's control.
Mr. Somchai Prechasilpkul, Assistance Professor
Dean, Faculty of Law, Chiang Mai University
About the “September 19 Alliance Against the Coup”
September 19 Alliance Against the Coup is an association of various university students and activists who do not approve of the coup d'?tat.
The association commenced during a meeting of 70-80 activists and university students on 20 th September 2006 (one day after the coup d'?tat). The announcement of the association was made via their own network organization while some remain in their individual capacity. Most of our members are university students and activists that have continuously worked in public forums as they are considered to be a part of the Thai society having a progressive political ideology.
The network wants to set up a political free area for anyone with different ideas than the ones suppressed by the junta. The ideology in the Thai society is not only to say “ yes to the coup d'?tat and no to Thaksin ” or “ yes to Thaksin and no to the coup d'?tat . When there is a military government in power, it proves to the people that they cannot change anything by themselves and that they also cannot make any decision on their own. The people have no power but need to refer to the army or to “a hero on a white horse” to solve their critical problems. Thailand has seen and endured too many coups. If a coup d'?tat is welcome this time, if any critical problems will happen in the future, the army has the right to initiate another coup. In addition, this coup d'?tat created a society under constraint without taking into consideration any principle of democracy. The Thai society, at the moment, has to suffer the absence of any guaranteed human rights; has to endure any illegal action with regard to the closing of over 300 radio stations; and has to accept the confinement of all ministers of Thaksin's government.
The common position of the Alliance is the following:
1. Do not accept the coup d'?tatBecause we believe that the coup d'?tat is an undemocratic action. The Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) claimed that Thaksins' government destroyed democracy, invaded the public communication systems and limited the people's rights, conversely, the CDR revoked the Constitution, enforced martial law, made an announcement that a gathering of more than 5 people is illegal, closed down local radio stations and websites, brought in the army to supervise all television and news stations. Those actions, if compared with the actions by Thaksin's government, must be considered much worse.
2. This government has neither any rights nor justificationBecause this government has not been elected, this government has no intention either to make any political reform or to pursue democracy. This government did not allow the people to get involved in the constitution drafting process. There is no representative from the people in the committee. During the election process of the committee the junta ensured that only someone appointed by the junta would be allowed in the committee!
3. Require general elections prior to any reform of democracyIn the political atmosphere created and maintained by the junta, especially during the proclamation of martial law, the people are not allowed to participate freely in any political development. The reform is only intended to be for an elite class of people, it is not intended to be a reform by the people. A “public opinion” is considered to be an individual attitude of the people on events expressed in a country; a referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal.
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