EAGER TO AVOID the mistakes of the previous coup-makers, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is determined to push for a special mechanism in the new constitution that would guarantee them the power of scrutiny over the post-election government, according to an NCPO source.

This special mechanism will allow a selected Senate rather than an indirectly elected Upper House during a five-year transitional period after the general election next year.

The 200 selected senators, most likely NCPO figures or people trusted by the junta, would have the primary duty of ensuring that the reform guidelines and national strategies formulated by the current government are fully implemented by the next administration, the source said.

The junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly and National Reform Steering Assembly have come up with those guidelines and strategies. Under the new constitution, which requires majority support in a national referendum to be held in July, senators are empowered to select members of independent organisations, which will become more powerful than before.

NCPO chief Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has called for selected senators, who he said would help prevent politicians in power after the election from “messing up with the constitution” and make sure that they will follow the reform guidelines and national strategies as suggested.

He has voiced support for Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan’s suggestion that the Upper House consist of selected senators.

Prawit told reporters last week that it was all right for NCPO members to become selected senators.

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked. The source said the deputy premier’s remark was a “trial balloon” floated to gauge the public mood on the matter.

General Prayut and his junta colleagues certainly do not want their coup of May 2014 to be “wasted” in the same manner as the previous power grab of September 2006.

Many political observers believe the putsch staged almost 10 years ago failed to curb corruption and power abuses by politicians. To complete the “unfinished mission”, the junta needs to pass on at least part of its existing powers to appointed members of the next Senate.

The NCPO source said it is not because they have no faith in democracy. They simply are not convinced that the charter will be a cure-all that assures stable progress for Thailand.

The source pointed to the abuse of past constitutions by corrupt politicians who gained a mandate to rule the country through an election.

Those politicians exploited loopholes to influence the appointment of people to independent organisations.

The checks-and-balances system created by the previous constitutions ended up not functioning properly, leading to coups that abrogated them.

“The special mechanism is a transformation of the National Strategic Reform and Reconciliation Commission or the so-called ‘crisis panel’,” the source said, referring to the panel added in the charter written by the Constitution Drafting Committee headed by Borwornsak Uwanno. The inclusion of the strategic panel was blamed for the now-defunct National Reform Council’s rejection of that draft.

Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission, on Friday softened his stance against the junta’s proposal for transitory selected senators.

He had been insisting all along that the CDC would go ahead with its original draft, which requires senators to be indirectly elected from representatives of 20 occupational groups.

The NCPO source said he was convinced the drafters would finally agree with the proposal for transitory selected senators.

This is a gamble for the junta. If the draft constitution is rejected in the referendum, “we will pack our bags and go home”, the source said.

Suriyasai Katasila, deputy rector of Rangsit University’s college of social innovation, said the NCPO is “so interested” in designing special mechanisms, namely selected senates, that the public has grown sceptical about its promises to relinquish power. The NCPO should instead come up with concrete reform plans, set clear missions, steer the reforms and encourage various segments of the public to cooperate.