THE CHIEF constitution drafter maintained yesterday that there was no “substitute constitution” as has been speculated.

Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), said the speculation might have stemmed from his earlier warning that if his panel’s draft failed to pass the referendum, people might be “frightened by a new one”.

He explained yesterday that he simply meant it was likely a new group of drafters would make a new draft with tougher provisions than his. “I did not mean that a substitute constitution has been prepared,” he said.

Meechai declined to comment on a remark by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam that if the draft written by Meechai and his team failed to pass the referendum, it would be revised before being promulgated without another referendum being held.

“The government and the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] will consider that. It’s not the duty of the CDC,” he said.

The chief drafter yesterday also defended certain controversial provisions in the draft constitution. He also responded to concerns expressed by different groups of people, particularly the fact that the rights of communities, consumers and the disabled were not clearly mentioned in the draft charter.

He said revisions would also be made to some conflicting clauses in the first draft completed by his team late last month.

Meechai said he was convinced that if voters got accurate information about the details of the CDC’s constitutional draft, they would vote for it in the referendum.

He maintained that the drafters had good intentions towards the country and that they would revise their draft in a way that would benefit the country rather than just pleasing politicians.

“We will see what is best for the country and we will head that way. The constitution is to be applied to people of the whole country, and not just people in politics or some groups of people,” Meechai said.

“If you focus too much in one particular direction, the country will end up having no peace. And you can’t please anyone in particular on some issues, such as suppressing corruption,” he added.

Meechai insisted that the CDC would remain firm with the provisions on using a single ballot for both constituency and party-list elections, and on disclosure of prime ministerial candidates before the election. He explained that in their public opinion survey, the drafters found that people supported those provisions.

He said that he believed ballot paper would help ease the problem of vote buying, adding that it would make vote buying more difficult for dishonest candidates.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday said he believed the draft constitution would get support from the majority of voters in the referendum.

“I don’t see anything damaging in the draft. It is difficult to find a constitution that prevents corruption,” he said.