วันจันทร์ที่ 4 กรกฎาคม พ.ศ. 2559

Heed result of referendum, says Somchai


 
With 33 days to go before the planned referendum, the Election
 Commission has finally begun to move on sending millions of
 information booklets on the draft constitution to Thailand Post
for mailing. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)

The referendum and its outcome must be respected, Election

Commission member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has warned,
urging all parties to accept the result whether they are satisfied
 with it or not.

The charter referendum process -- which has been criticised by

 rights advocates for its lack of public participation and free debate
 as well as the tight restrictions on freedom of expression –
should not follow Britain's example, Mr Somchai said.

 In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, many Britons were displeased
with the majority's decision to leave the European Union, which
 has sparked protests and calls for another referendum to be
 organised.

 "That is not how referendums should function," he said,
 urging all political factions to put an end to their campaigning
once voters have gone to the polling stations and cast their
 referendum votes on Aug 7.

 In the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote, false information was
spread to the public with some participants framing their arguments
 with hate speech,Mr Somchai said.

 The EC is doing its best under the Referendum Act to curtail the s
pread of misinformation, he said. (In a separate development,
members of the military-appointed National Reform Steering
 Assembly (NRSA) took their deputy chairman and former
 Democrat Party MP Alongkorn Ponlaboot to task for what they
 called secret meetings with politicians.)

 Ex-politician rapped: Alongkorn 'a loose cannon'

See also: Academics demand release of activists

Any conflict from a campaign to mislead people would leave society
divided in the wake of the referendum, Mr Somchai said.

The public must rally behind the result of the Aug 7 vote so as to
 avoid any splits, he said. If the draft charter presented by the
 military-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee does not pass
 the referendum, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)
 will have to set up a new drafting team, to create a new draft in the
 following three months.

 However, there will be no time to hold another referendum and the
next draft will have to be submitted to the King for endorsement and
 adopted soon after, allowing a general election to take place as
expected next year, if the NCPO intends to stick to its roadmap.

Time is running out fast, Mr Somchai added, adding the military
 should not further deviate from the roadmap, as it has repeatedly
 promised the people an election next year.

However, a rejected draft charter would present a political scenario
 which is worrying for the country, according to academics and
 politicians who debated Thailand's political future at a seminar at the
Thai Public Broadcasting (Thai PBS) Monday.

The path ahead will lack clarity if the draft charter is rejected in
 the referendum, said Ekkachai Chainuvati, a law professor at
 Siam University.

Thana Cheeravinij, a former Democrat Party MP, said: "Thais know
 the consequences of the choice they are bound to make, if they vote
 to accept the draft. However, they don't know what lies ahead if
they reject it.''

This is far from being an ideal situation for people only a month away
 from the vote, he said. Peace academic Gothom Arya, also a former
director of Mahidol University's Institute for Human Rights and
Peace Studies, said he was worried that if the charter is rejected,
another draft would be written and adopted with no public
 participation or endorsement.

He suggested the regime should instead come up with a new charter,
based on either the 1997 or the 2007 charter, to be adopted over the
 next four years until a new election.

 During that time, a charter  drafting committee, supported by the
public, should be up and running, to write a new draft constitution
that truly caters to citizens' needs and demands, Mr Gothom argued.

News,Politics,Bangkok Post,5 July 2016.

 

In my believe if Thai people know the core value of the draft charter

which mean to make rules to stop corruption,they will accept

 the referendum.

So it depends on how the government authorities help them to understand

as we all know that they read very little and sometimes lead by the false
information.

If the draft charter has been rejected,it’s in the power of the government

to revise old version of the charter that proper to the country and the
new election should be held on the roadmap.

 

Sincerely Yours.



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