Meanwhile, the junta has reassured that its roadmap towards a general election remains unchanged.
PM Prayut said the other “rivers”, apparently referring to the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), have a schedule to meet and he trusted that they would eventually get agreement on points that they still see differently.
The CDC has been mainly working on two key organic bills – about political parties and the Election Commission – over the past month, and has faced some opposing views on some changes in the drafts.
One critical part relates to new qualifications laid down for Election Commissioners, which some fear will result in some current commissioners losing their posts and possibly further apply to other independent agencies.
The other critical disagreement concerns the proposal that top executives of political parties found guilty of selling their political positions in exchange for money face the death sentence – a punishment that some observers say is too harsh.
PM Prayut yesterday urged all sides to tone down their disagreements and stick to his request to focus on drawing up laws that facilitates the government to work for the people.
“The laws that we are working on must provide a way out of past impasses,” Prayut said. “Some relate with one another. I trust that they will be the way out from disagreement. Anything that we can do first [to stop problems], do it. The rest will be done later.”
Meanwhile, a source close to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said the junta was still sticking to its roadmap toward a general election, planned around the end of next year. It would only be adjusted if some of its schedules overlap with royal events, and if that was the case, there would only be a minor adjustment, the source said.
The source said administration of the country was still on track. The security policy also remained unchanged despite royal events at the moment, while they were still keeping an eye on political clans allied to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as ever.