DRAFTERS of the new charter yesterday rejected a challenge by an activist group for a public debate on the draft in the run-up to the August 7 referendum.

Constitution Drafting Commission chairman Meechai Ruchupan said yesterday that the CDC would not take part in any such event to be held by the New Democracy Movement.

“We will debate with people who finish reading all the draft constitution. If they don’t read it or read only part of the draft and start complaining about its content, I don’t know how to argue with them,” Meechai said.

CDC spokesman Udom Rathamarit said the drafters had no fear of debating the draft publicly but it was beyond their responsibility. “The CDC did not write the new constitution to be dictatorial. The goal was to tackle the country’s problems. Our duty now is to tell the public about the contents of the draft constitution. But we are not trying to influence the voters’ decision,” Udom said.

He said the activist group’s challenge for a debate with the CDC seemed to be politically motivated.

“They seem to be inciting opposition against the draft. The CDC is not a party in the political conflict,” the spokesman added.

“If the New Democracy Movement wants to debate about the draft, they should better find a politician group that disagrees with them or any group that supports the draft.”

The spokesman said some groups seemed to be trying to drag the CDC into conflict. “We don’t want to |fall into the trap,” he said.

Udom also disputed claims by critics that the draft would steer the country towards a decline. “That’s pure imagination. What the CDC does is not going to damage the country. People who disagree with what is written in the draft constitution may voice opinions against it. But they should not distort it.”

Clarifies on ‘amendment’

Meechai also rejected reports that he called on voters to back the draft so that the charter could be amended in the future. He simply said any flaws could be corrected in the future as a new constitution would be in use for a long time. Meechai’s supposed remark led to much criticism against him.

“I said that when the situation changes, amendments can be made accordingly,” he said, adding that the rumour was an attempt by detractors who could not find anything bad to talk about the draft charter. “They should at least have goodwill for the country,” he added.

In a related development, the Ombudsman Office will look at a petition by the Internet Law Reform Dialogue, or iLaw, that certain clauses in the Referendum Act on the Draft Constitution violate people’s rights and liberties, the agency’s chairman Sriracha Wongsarayangkun said yesterday.

He said that in his opinion, the current situation was not open to full public debate on the draft constitution in the run-up to the referendum. “Many incidents have discouraged people from expressing their views. This was unlike the time before the referendum on the 2007 constitution,” he added.