FORMER prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday repeated her stance of rejecting the draft charter, while Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha dispelled concern about the growing opposition to the draft by heavyweight politicians, instead vowing to stick to his road map towards democracy regardless of the outcome of this Sunday’s poll.

Yingluck also rejected a related proposal in the August 7 ballot on whether the appointed Senate should share power with MPs in the elected House of Representatives to select the next prime minister.

While the country seems to remain divided on the draft charter, with the opposition voices are growing, Prayut said yesterday: “I’m not worried about it. It’s up to you, how you vote on it, and I will stick to the road map to democracy no matter what.”

Yingluck responded to a clarification on political bans, and insisted she had the right to cast a ballot in the referendum. She said she would definitely exercise that right on Sunday.

Yingluck was hit with a five-year political ban in January last year when the National Legislative Assembly, dominated by military-appointed members, voted the former PM guilty in an impeachment case for failing to exercise sufficient oversight of a rice-subsidy scheme.

“The country’s top law must be democratic and accept the people’s decision and ensure rights and liberties of the people,” she said. “The checks and balances must be well suited and address the people’s grievances. However, I have followed the charter-drafting process and find that it does not follow this guideline, so I reject the draft. And I also disapprove of the additional referendum question.”

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said politicians who had been deprived of political rights, such as members of the “111 group” or the “109 group”, had the right to vote in the referendum because the 2014 interim charter did not carry any provision that bans them from casting a ballot.

The so-called “groups of 111 and 109 MPs” from the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai, People Power,Chart Thai and Matchimatippatai parties were banned from politics for five years by the Constitutional Court in 2006 and 2007.

“But in the future, it is not certain that they still have this right, as it depends what the future charter says about this issue,” Wissanu said.

Under this charter (if accepted), previously banned politicians are allowed to stand for election. However, previously impeached officials including Yingluck would be forbidden from running in the election scheduled for next year.

Prayut, meanwhile, played down the moves by politicians and some members of the public against the draft. However, he admitted that the charter-drafting process involved no public participation. He also refused to say whether the next draft – if there is one – would be any different.

“How could you say that no one knows anything at all? They [authorities] have informed people in several areas,” Prayut said. “Those opposing the draft just never want to listen to them.”

Apart from slamming different movements, officials from his administration had sought to build knowledge about the draft and the vote on the charter via almost all means available, from tradition oral explanations to online platforms and mobile applications.

This included pamphlets on the referendum distributed by the Election Commission that drew controversy for seemingly exaggerating the original content of the draft. A legal team for the Pheu Thai Party filed a petition to Prayut on Monday, urging the PM to consider whether the pamphlets broke the referendum law for distorting the draft’s content.

Prayut said he had instructed authorities to keep the situation in order and would not set up a war room on August 7. All irregularities would be dealt with by legal action, he said. Once the referendum result is known, his government will take further action, and a Cabinet meeting would be held next week to review the result and look into the steps forward.

“I tabled for you a picture of the future, although it may not quite clear somehow, and that should be better than having no [prediction] at all. It’s really up to you to choose,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan stressed that the People’s Democratic Reform Foundation (PDRF) could not organise a whistle-blowing event to show support for the draft because of the junta’s order banning more than four people from staging a political gathering.

Constitution Drafting Commission head Meechai Ruchupan will tomorrow (4) lead all CDC members to answer questions about the draft from viewers who phone in to a live programme being aired on Thai PBS television station from 9pm to 11pm.

This is seen as a last-ditch attempt to secure support for the new charter, with all drafters instructed to answer questions in person about the draft. On Friday, the commission will also go on Channel 11 to discuss key elements of the draft, such as the rights and liberties of the people, the new electoral system for MPs and how to make politics “clean”.

CDC spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said Meechai would answer every question from the media at the two events. The CDC chairman had earlier expressed concern that the reform process would be in disarray if the draft were rejected.

Norachit defended the commission for not joining the Interior Ministry’s charter forums in 77 provinces, saying they could not cover all provinces.