Arthi said the charter draft, passed in this month’s referendum, did not touch on national reform. He said the TRI would present guidelines that would lead to changes and political reform. “We have to think outside the box in terms of structural reform, decentralisation and justice reform,” he said.

He said the TRI wanted to stage a reform movement on behalf of the civil sector to achieve national reconciliation.

Arthit denied that he wanted to establish a political party or become a non-elected PM and said he would not accept a senatorial post.

Meanwhile, former National Reform Council member Anek Laothamatas is pushing for elected provincial governors across the country to be part of decentralisation and structural change. He suggested that the Provincial Administrative Organisation be merged with provincial administrations and come under the jurisdiction of the PM. “We must just dissolve provincial administrations. Provincial governors should answer directly to the PM and not the Interior Ministry. Current provincial governors should be made deputy provincial governors,” he said.

He said to prevent vote-buying and nepotism, provincial governor candidates must pass a strict qualification process such as they must be a native of the constituency they hoped to represent.

Meanwhile, former National Anti-Corruption Commission member Wicha Mahakun said the country was in dire need of judicial reform, which was integral to national stability. He proposed that a middle path, or a self-sufficiency principle, be adopted for justice reform.

He suggested that legal specialists in local areas volunteer to work without pay to ensure justice in communities and only when this fails should cases be filed with provincial courts, which should be established in every province.

“We should settle the cases with the provincial court and not the Supreme Court,” he said.