POLITICIANS from the two major camps yesterday cried foul over the junta’s ideas to have a selected Senate, a non-elected prime minister and larger electoral constituencies, worrying that these elements would allow the military to take deep root and dictate the politics and fate of the country for a long time.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) earlier recommended to the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) that it put these three key political elements into the draft charter. The selected 250-member Senate, including a quota for top commanders of the Armed Forces, would become a powerhouse to control the legislative body and the executive branch, said Chaturon Chaisang, a key figure in the Pheu Thai Party. Such dominance would certainly reduce the weight of MPs’ voices on the floor of the House of Representatives, he said. For instance, it would require votes from only 126 MPs, together with those from 250 lobbied senators, to strip the whole Cabinet bare, he added.

The junta wanted to kill off the drafters’ idea to have a three-name PM candidate list in the ballot, which Chaturon said would allow outsiders to be nominated for the position of premier.

Another junta proposal, on the election of MPs – allowing people to vote for only one candidate out of three – was also worrisome, he said, adding that the idea would unnecessarily scatter votes among political parties, with the bigger ones able to obtain only about one-third of the seats in the House.

The Democrat Party’s Nipit Intarasombat yesterday said that every proposal from the junta for revising the charter draft was worrisome.

Empowering selected senators to grill an elected government in a no-confidence debate compromised democratic principles, he said, adding, “This means appointed people can overthrow an elected government.”

The proposed new election system would bring about conflicts in every political party, from canvassers to constituents, and among parties, he suggested. “I fear the system will weaken political parties to the point that our democracy is rocked to the core,” Nipit said.

However, the chairman of the National Steering Reform Assembly’s political reform committee, Seri Suwanpanont, supported the NCPO’s proposal for a large-constituency electoral system. Smaller parties stand a better chance of competing against the big ones, and it would help truly reflect voters’ wishes, he said.

Besides, such an electoral system would also help bring reconciliation, as MPs could come from a couple of different parties representing the same constituency and the seats would not be limited to only big parties.

On a selected Senate, Seri said it was only a mechanism to check the government so that it is strong and trustworthy. As for six military top brass sitting in Parliament, Seri said this was necessary because the country was still facing security issues and a deep political divide.

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan yesterday refused to disclose the panel’s stance towards the proposals, saying he had to consult other drafters first and stressing that the panel would consider any proposal based on its rationale. “For our consideration, we mainly rely on the rationale of each proposal, paying no attention to who sent them. If they are advantageous, we include them in the draft. If they just do not seem to work, we drop them,” Meechai said before a meeting of the CDC.

He told everyone to not worry or be bothered about anything yet, because as of yesterday the CDC had not made any changes to the charter draft as recommended by the NCPO.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that neither he nor Prime Minster Prayut Chan-o-cha would accept a prime minister post after the next general election, although the junta’s proposal likely opened up chances for them to be in the running.

Prawit said the NCPO’s proposal was aimed at making sure the five-year transitional period achieved concrete reform results.

He defended the proposal to have military top brass become senators, arguing that it was aimed at ensuring a coup would not be staged as the military would have a venue in which to talk with politicians and find solutions together.

“Elected politicians would also have the chance to talk to the military top brass in Parliament. I see it as a good thing and nothing is wrong, since we will have a general election,” he added.

Asked why the government did not want the CDC to make political parties announce PM candidates ahead of the election, the deputy premier said parties would be able to nominate whoever they wanted, but there was no need to announce the names prior to a poll.