However, according to the charter draft, candidates must quit their current offices within 90 days after the charter comes into effect, he added.

Members of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) cannot hold political positions for two years after the new constitution comes into force, the charter draft stipulates.

Meechai’s clarification dealt with the additional question that empowers the unelected Senate to join the Lower House in selecting prime ministers, which was approved as part of the military-backed referendum on Sunday.

There has been concern that the other two “rivers of power”, the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), should not sit in the Upper House. It was the NLA that proposed the additional question in the referendum to allow the selected Senate to jointly select prime ministers for five years after the charter is enacted.

Meechai said the requirement for Senate candidates to resign from positions in the NLA or NRSA was to prevent “any possible conflict of interest”.

“They should not be writing regulations regarding Parliament when they are going to be in it in the future. Also, if they are to resign from their posts, how do they know whether or not they will be selected [by the junta to stand in the House],” he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said he hopes the process could be completed within two months. Meechai responded yesterday that drafters and related agencies would try to meet that deadline, but he added the task is not easy because there are four laws to write.

He said there are issues that require caution and time to figure out before they could be dealt with, including matters regarding the Senate and House of Representatives, which involve new electoral methods.

Independent agencies such as the Election Commission would also be involved in writing the laws, he said.

Meechai said he does not see the need to reset politics by dissolving all political parties, but he does not rule out the option.

“[The parties] would not be equal with a reset. No matter what, each of them still has their base of supporters,” he said, adding he was open to further input on the issue.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said that if the political parties are to start anew, they should be institutionalised and truly belong to members.

“The CDC should be left alone to work and reflect on what rules a political party law should have. [Drafters] have to figure out what would bring about the best political parties because we want them to truly belong to the people,” the former prime minister said.

Meanwhile, representatives of the charter drafters plan to meet foreign ambassadors in Thailand today regarding Sunday’s referendum results. Meechai said they want to convey a message that Thailand has never interfered in other country’s internal affairs and it hoped that other countries would do the same.