SOME politicians in the Muslim-majority deep South are distorting elements of the draft constitution in a bid to persuade Muslim voters to reject the draft, a spokesman for the charter writers said yesterday.

Amorn Wanichwiwatana, spokesman for the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), said he has learnt from security officials in the southern border region that a group of people led by Muslim politicians from the Wadah group had produced an audio clip criticising the draft.

They said a clause in the draft regards Buddhism as the country’s superior religion, and that in turn could negatively affect Muslims. The clip claimed the clause in question could affect Muslims performing their religious tasks, he said.

“This is not the truth. Article 67 of the draft constitution states that the government needs to support and protect Buddhism and other religions,” the CDC spokesman said.

Amorn said he and the security officials had agreed that the clip “clearly distorted the draft constitution” and that it could influence voters’ decisions in the run-up to the August 7 referendum.

“Security officials also see that, as this involves religious issues, the case could be treated as a security threat,” he said.

The CDC spokesman said the clip should be an issue for security authorities because the drafters were not the “damaged party”.

Amorn said the audio clip was bout two minutes long and in Thai. It had been distributed in three southern border provinces.

“I believe the people responsible for the clip are acting as a tool for people who want the new constitution to be rejected. If the draft passes the referendum, they could be charged with sedition and the penalty is capital punishment,” Amorn said.

Article 67 of the draft charter states that: “The government shall support and protect Buddhism and other religions. In supporting and protecting Buddhism, which most Thai people have practised for a long time, the government will encourage study and dissemination of Theravada Buddhism teachings for spiritual and intellectual development. There must be measures and mechanisms to prevent any form of subversion of Buddhism. And Buddhists will be encouraged to take part in those measures and mechanisms.”

Meanwhile in Songkhla, a group of referendum observers in the southern border region yesterday filed a complaint with local police accusing the Election Commission of distorting the draft charter in its booklet distributed to eligible voters throughout the country.

Faosee Billo, a leader of the group, filed the complaint with Chana district police superintendent Pol Colonel Sakon Anonrat. He said certain claims in the booklet were not exactly true to the draft charter and it only mentioned the benefits of the draft, in an apparent attempt to woo voters to approve the draft.

Sakon said that he would refer the complaint to the Songkhla police chief for further action.

In related news, Boonlert Buranupakorn, the chief executive of Chiang Mai‘s Provincial Administrative Organisation, reported yesterday to military officials at the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok.

Boonlert is suspected of being involved in the production and distribution of letters with content that distorted the constitutional draft.

He returned to Chiang Mai yesterday from a trip to the United States. Yesterday morning, the northern city’s local administrator flew to Bangkok and went straight to the military camp. He denied any involvement with the alleged wrongdoing.

Boonlert’s niece Tassanee Buranupakorn, a former Pheu Thai Party MP, has been detained at the 11th Military Circle in connection with the case. Five others were arrested along with her.

Colonel Piyapong Klinpan, a spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said yesterday that investigation found Tassanee’s connection to the production and distribution of the letters in Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Lampang.

He said her detention was in line with the law, adding that the NCPO had the power to detain suspects in such cases for seven days.

A group of Pheu Thai politicians, accompanied by officials from the Swiss Embassy, sought to visit Tassanee yesterday at the military camp. But officials at the base did not allow them to see her.

Key Pheu Thai figure Sudarat Keyuraphan called on the military yesterday to release Tassanee and her sister Tarnthip, a dentist, immediately and unconditionally. She said the sisters were being held without any charges and their arrest was part of the junta’s tactic to “create fear” in the run-up to the referendum.