PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha retracted his remark yesterday that he would write a new constitution himself if the draft charter fails to pass the referendum next month.

He said it was an “unofficial remark” that should not be taken seriously.

“I said if there were too many problems, I might consider whether I should do it myself. I consider that an unofficial remark. Don’t take me too seriously,” the prime minister told reporters.

Prayut, who also heads the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), softened his stance just a few hours after making the remark as he speculated what would happen if the draft written by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) fails to pass the August 7 national vote.

“If things are not okay, I can write a new one. I will write it the way people want. I have no knowledge about laws but I read a lot. I will take into account public sentiment.

“Let’s see if it will pass or not,” Prayut said originally.

In response to Prayut‘s remark, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the prime minister had power under the post-coup interim charter to have a new constitution written.

Abhisit, a former prime minister, said he “saw no use” for another constitutional drafting panel to be formed if the CDC’s draft fails to pass the referendum.

He said such a scenario would mean two constitution drafts written after the 2014 coup had failed to be promulgated. The previous draft charter, written by the Constitution Drafting Committee headed by Borwornsak Uwanno, was rejected by the National Reform Council last year.

Abhisit suggested that before writing another constitutional draft, people in power should try to determine what caused the CDC draft to fail in a referendum.

“There [would be] no use in writing a new constitution themselves without knowing why the draft was rejected. Even though [they might] succeed in promulgating it, the law would not be accepted,” the veteran politician said.

He warned that Thailand would continue to be mired in an unending conflict unless the public accepts the charter. “People now want to see the country move forward,” Abhisit said.

In a related development, a subcommittee of the CDC concluded yesterday that a booklet written by the student activist group New Democracy Movement (NDM) was deemed to violate the Referendum Act, CDC spokesman Udom Rathamarit said.

The NDM has distributed copies of the booklet criticising certain points in the draft constitution.

‘Distorting’ booklet

Udom said yesterday the CDC subcommittee, headed by Supachai Yavaprabhas, found that content of the NDM’s booklet was “distorting”.

However, the subcommittee had not decided yesterday whether to take legal action against the student group, according to the spokesman.

He said three options were being considered – the CDC could take legal action, request the Election Commission take action or explain the situation to the |public.