IT WOULD be better for people to accept the draft charter because they could avoid the risk of being saddled with an “unknown” constitution, which will be instated if the draft fails the referendum, Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) spokesman Amorn Wanitwiwat said yesterday.

“People would face fewer risks by accepting the draft charter because they have had a chance to check every article and the draft has been revised. But if they reject the draft, then they will face greater risks because they will not know what the next charter will be like,” he warned.

Amorn also thanked politicians who have voiced their support for the charter draft.

Chat Thai Pattana Party’s chief adviser Banharn Silapa-archa and former People’s Democratic Reform Committee chairman Suthep Thaugsuban have both said that they found the draft charter acceptable.

Amorn added that he believes the supporters of these politicians would probably accept the draft charter.

He dismissed concerns that campaigns by political groups and students who oppose the draft would influence voters to reject it in the referendum.

He added that he was confident that charter-awareness campaigns run by the Reserve Officer Training Corps, health officials, and kamnan and village heads as well as local administrative organisations would make people understand the content of the charter draft.

Amorn said the CDC had decided that platforms set up to discuss the draft charter should not include stakeholders such as politicians. Debate on the draft charter have been banned because the CDC is afraid that participants might distort the draft’s intentions.

“Debates may lead to arguments that do not create a atmosphere of reconciliation and might distort the draft charter’s content. The audience may not gain anything, other than entertainment from listening to arguments,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the interim 2014 charter would be amended if the draft charter does not pass the public referendum.

“We may amend only one or two articles. Once the result of the rejection is officially confirmed, the amendments will proceed to the National Legislative Assembly [NLA] immediately,” he said, adding that he did not know how the interim charter would be changed.

“We have not told the public what we will do if the draft is rejected, because we do not want to influence their decision [whether to accept or reject the draft]. We are not afraid of the draft being rejected, but we do not want to pressure or influence the voters,” he said.

Wissanu also dismissed Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva’s comment that withholding the information from the public was not fair to them, saying the government’s actions were within accepted norms.

“We have not announced anything in advance because we want to judge the situation and public reaction first,” he said.

The deputy PM also said under the draft charter, a non-elected PM would not be able to rise to power unless the country was in crisis.

The draft charter stipulates that the Senate would not be able to nominate candidates for the premiership, but if voters approve the additional question posed by the NLA, senators would be eligible to vote for candidates.