The Cabinet yesterday also approved Thailand’s position paper to be presented during the 71st General Assembly starting next Tuesday.

Thailand will emphasise its role pushing for benefits for developing countries in its capacity as leader of the Group of 77. It will also highlight principles of the sufficiency economy as a mechanism to achieve the UN’s goals on sustainable development.

The approach is in response to the General Assembly’s theme “The Sustainable Development Goals: A universal push to transform our world”.

The position paper focuses on nine principles: support for sustainable economic development, international security and peacekeeping, development in Africa, support for human rights, efficient coordination of humanitarian aid, support for international jurisdiction, weapons reduction and combating transnational terrorism, crime and drugs, and organisational development

According to assistant government spokesman Colonel Atisith Chainuvati, Prayut is scheduled to leave for New York on September 18 and will spend almost a week there.

The court’s secretary-general Pimol Thampitakpong said yesterday that the judges would kick off the task by first considering whether they should accept the Constitutional Drafting Commission (CDC)’s request to seek a judicial review.

He said the tribunal would also debate on whether the CDC has supplied enough information for the review. If the information is found to be insufficient, then the court will ask for additional documents or testimony when necessary.

“That will be clear at the judges’ meeting [today],” Pimol said, noting that the court needed to complete its review within 30 days as required by the post-coup interim charter.

The court has been asked to rule on whether the changes made by the CDC to the original charter draft comply with the referendum result. In the plebiscite, voters accepted the option of allowing selected senators to help elected MPs choose a prime minister for a five-year term after the next Parliament convenes for the first time.

Meanwhile, a group called the Network of Citizens Protecting the Country submitted a petition with the Ombudsman’s Office yesterday asking for an investigation into the legality of the draft charter.

The petition said the draft had won support from some 17 million voters, which was only a third of the country’s 50 million eligible voters. Hence, it said, the draft had failed in the national vote as the interim constitution stated that at least half of the eligible voters would have to vote for the draft for it to be promulgated.

The group also asked the Ombudsman’s Office to have the Constitutional or Administrative Court interpret the relevant law.

Somchai said rotating jobs would boost the commissioner’s capacity, as he or she will be able to work outside their speciality fields.

The EC has also told its internal working group to study a new working style, like that of an election board, Somchai said, adding that the result of the study should be available by next month.

The commissioner’s remarks came after speculation that EC members are vying for the top position and that the agency’s chairman is facing pressure to step down after serving for two years.

On Monday, the chairman admitted that this was the result of an agreement among members when they first took office.

After the EC met on Monday, there were rumours that the EC had resolved to seek the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s opinion on the issue. The NCPO had issued an order barring independent agencies from holding meetings to seek replacements for vacancies – an order that EC chairman Supachai Somcharoen has used to explain why he cannot step down.

Somchai added that EC members and the chairman had continued working as usual and no such letter has been submitted to the NCPO.

Prayut‘s remarks followed a series of disagreements between Thailand and China over the project – from loan interest rates to the use of construction materials.

The project comprises two routes – Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima and Rayong to Nong Khai.

The first 3.5 kilometres of the 271.5km Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima route was initially planned to start this month but was suspended due to financial issues, according to the Transport Ministry.

Prayut had ordered the ministry to find a solution to the impasse during the government’s term as it was designed to be part of a land-route connectivity project with Laos.

The premier did not spell out the legal issues obstructing the deal.

His order was followed by Thailand and China signing an agreement during their 13th meeting on railway cooperation in Beijing. The agreement, signed last month, states that Thailand will fund all the construction and retain ownership rights while China will design the project.

The project’s estimated cost is Bt179 billion and it would span 837km.

Xi also reaffirmed that China was ready to continue with the project.

During their side meeting at the G20 Summit in the historic Chinese city of Hangzhou, the two leaders agreed to pursue bilateral strategic cooperation in multiple areas to cope with global challenges and achieve mutual development goals. Prayut thanked China for welcoming Thailand, in the former’s capacity as the G77 chair at the G20 summit.

He also said he appreciated Xi’s vision to facilitate cooperation between leading industrialised economies and emerging economies.

Thanks Beijing for boosting tourism

He thanked Beijing for boosting Thailand’s tourism industry, with almost 8 million Chinese visiting the country last year – making it easily the Kingdom’s No 1 source market.

On last day of the summit, Prayut provided two vision statements stressing Thailand’s role as a bridge-builder between the G20 and G77 economies that could help accelerate the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He also urged G20 members, which comprise industrialised and emerging economies, to focus on agricultural sectors as the main income source for developing countries.

Agriculture also contributes to global food security, Prayut said, suggesting that the G20 could help farmers better integrate into the global economy.

He also praised the G20’s efforts in bridging gaps in infrastructure development, citing the China-initiated One Belt, One Road scheme and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank initiatives as examples.

The premier said transportation connectivity, including rail, should be promoted further.

Prayut last evening left China and arrived in Vientiane, where he will attend the 28th-29th Asean Summit from today until Thursday.

In the weekly meeting yesterday of the NCPO secretariat chaired by General Warit Rojanapakdee, the junta’s deputy secretary-general, officials were told they had to ensure that development projects were effective and satisfied the people, NCPO spokeswoman Colonel Sirijan Nga-thong said.

Warit’s order came after the meeting considered progress reports of several social development projects, in which he said implementation over the past year had led to positive changes for society in many aspects, said Sirijan, who also attended the meeting.

Sirijan said the projects were related to social order, public transport, Bangkok’s crowded footpaths, solving floods and drought, managing drug problems, and resolving citizen complaints.

Warit suggested that officials evaluate both completed and ongoing projects to ensure they meet their goals and satisfy all related sectors including the public, Sirijan said.

NCPO projects such as improving access to pavements in Bangkok by removing vendors and “beautification” to develop areas along canals in the capital by removing structures and communities that encroach on public space have sparked criticism from people affected.

Warit also instructed officials to maintain security measures including along borders to combat drug trafficking, Sirijan said.

He said the NCPO still focused on helping to resolve public complaints via the junta-initiated Damrongdhamma Centre.

DEPUTY Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam warned yesterday against changing the Election Commission (EC) chairman at this time, saying that any alteration would require royal endorsement and he saw no need to bother His Majesty the King.

Meanwhile, he maintained that it was the EC’s duty to organise elections and disqualify winning candidates suspected of electoral fraud.

He was responding to a proposal by the National Reform Steering Assembly’s political reform committee that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) should help the EC oversee the organising of elections.

However, the deputy premier yesterday said replacing the EC chairman would not be against the NCPO order that suspended the selection of new independent organisation members.

His remarks came after news of an ongoing dispute among EC members about whether to replace the commission’s chairman, Supachai Somcharoen, who had overstayed his position. Before assuming his seat, Supachai reportedly promised his colleagues to leave the post after two years.

Supachai admitted yesterday that there had been a deal among the five EC members for him to serve as chairman for two years.

He said he had had no intention of overstaying that duration but that he did not want to bring more confusion to the country at this time.

Wissanu told Government House reporters yesterday that the NCPO Order No 40/2559, which suspended the selection of new independent organisation members, should not be applied in the EC’s case. However, he added that any changes of top positions at the EC would require royal endorsement and he viewed that as an unnecessary extra burden for the King.

Last Friday, an EC meeting resolved to submit a letter to ask the NCPO whether the relevant order applied to the EC chairman. One EC member requested a secret meeting and asked Supachai to honour his promise to serve only two years.

Supachai was asked why he had not stepped down, according to a source. Supachai argued that he was not attached to his position but he had not stepped down because he wanted to complete the important mission of holding the public referendum.

He said he also feared that if he stepped down, he would lose his EC membership, which might be in breach of the NCPO’s order.

The five EC members then engaged in a hostile verbal argument, with three EC members supporting a change of leadership, the source said. The meeting failed to resolve the issue and the commission decided to hold another meeting last Friday, amid criticism that the body was deeply divided.

At the meeting on Friday, one EC member who wanted Supachai to step down spoke before a number of high-ranking EC officials, saying he disapproved of the chairman’s reasons regarding a possible violation of the NCPO’s order. He said Supachai’s resignation as chairman would not prevent him remaining at the EC.

The EC member cited the previous resignation of Constitutional Court president Chut Chonlavorn, who still serves as judge, adding that if Supachai stepped down as chairman, he would still serve as an EC member.

Supachai’s supporters argued that there was not a regulation stating that the EC had the right to remove the chairman. The meeting then resolved to seek the NCPO’s clarification over its order.

Besides Boonsong, three other former politicians and two senior commerce ministry officials were named in the case in connection with the rice-pledging scheme.

The allegedly fake government-to-government rice deals involving bogus Chinese buyers led to estimated damages of about Bt20 billion, according to a government report.

Earlier, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told Apiradi to proceed with the controversial case before the statute of limitations expires in February next year.

Apiradi said the ministry would complete its task before the legal deadline, but needed to carefully study the details of the case.

The case is sensitive with several agencies involved.

Former premier Yingluck Shinawatra faces criminal and civil liability lawsuits similar to those facing Boonsong concerning the rice-pledging scheme, which suffered heavy losses, even though it was popular among farmers who benefited from high rice prices.