Abhisit said on Monday he would like suspension orders, extensively done via the coup leader’s use of Section 44 under the Interim Charter, to be promulgated as a law.

The Democrat leader’s remark came after Prayut last week used his sweeping power under Section 44 to order the suspension of Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra because of a corruption scandal.

In a one-hour interview shown live on Abhisit’s Facebook page, the former prime minister said he would prefer the suspension order to be enshrined in law to ensure fairness and non-partisan issuing of suspension orders.

Prayut complimented Abhisit on his remark, saying it was a “good suggestion”. He said if the Democrat leader wanted to see suspension orders as part of conventional laws, Abhisit should propose it to be enshrined in organic laws, which the charter drafters are now working on.

He said drafters would not make any substantial alterations to the document, which would still conform to the outline that the CDC had earlier explained to the public.

Udom’s comments came after reports that CDC chief Meechai Ruchuphan had withdrawn the amended charter from the court yesterday.

The spokesman said the CDC had rushed to submit the document on Monday before the court closed at 4pm, resulting in minor procedural errors.

“An official from the court called and asked that we resubmit the paper. If it is to be submitted by an official, a letter of power of attorney is required. Also, we have to ‘request’ that the Court review the paper, not just submit it,” Udom said.

The CDC on Monday submitted the completed amendment of the charter’s Article 272 that would allow the Senate to vote with MPs in the joint Parliament to choose a prime minister in line with the August 7 referendum result.

According the to the 2014 interim charter, the Constitutional Court must determine whether the amendment was made correctly and in line with voters’ intentions expressed through the referendum.

Their lawyer said the charge carried a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, and prosecutors additionally proposed a 10-year electoral-rights revocation for the five accused.

The Ratchaburi Provincial Court granted bail of Bt140,000 each, which was sought previously, according to lawyer Arnon Nampa. He said the prosecutors said Prachatai reporter Taweesak Kerdpoka and the New Democracy Movement (NDM) activists possessed and prepared to distribute “Vote No” stickers.

However, Election Commission member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn yesterday stressed that such stickers would not breach Article 61 of the Referendum Act. According to Somchai’s Facebook, he said he was willing to testify to prove that the defendants were innocent.

Arnon insisted the accused had done nothing wrong, denied all allegations, and the case would be vigorously contested in court.

The five accused are Taweesak, NDM activists Pakorn Areekul, Anucha Rungmorakot and Anan Laoked, and Panuwat Songsawatchai, another red-shirt-supporting student based in Ratchaburi.

On July 10, Taweesak went with the three NDM activists by car to Ratchaburi’s Ban Pong district police station to report on the actions of students who were travelling to give moral support to 18 red shirts who reported to police after receiving a summons.

The 18 were charged with violating the junta’s ban on political gatherings after being involved in the red shirts’ provincial anti-fraud centres aimed at monitoring possible fraud in the referendum.

When Taweesak and the others were about to leave, they were intercepted by police, who searched their car and found “Vote No” stickers and pamphlets opposing the constitutional draft.

The four, along with Panuwat, who was brought to the police station later that evening, were accused of breaching Article 61, which bans the dissemination of “false”, “vulgar”, “inciting”, or “intimidating” messages in relation to the August 7 referendum on the charter.

Chuwat Rerksirisuk, editor-in-chief of the news outlet, said the organisation was considering filing a counter-suit against the investigators based on their groundless charges. He said Taweesak and the activists had not disseminated any documents against the charter draft, so had done nothing to breach Article 61.

Prachatai director Chiranuch Premchaiporn said her organisation would help Taweesak fight the case, as he was charged while on duty. The court hearing is set for September 21.

“I just complained about getting a low salary in contrast to the hard work. I said I was pleased to work even though I would not get paid. I did not mean I would stay on as prime minister in the next government,” he told reporters at Government House yesterday.

“The media concluded a wrong interpretation of what I said.”

On Friday, Prayut said: “Even though the work is harder and I am not paid for doing the work, I will be pleased to stay. But I will stay through democratic means and in a dignified way, although I don’t know now how that will come to be.”

The prime minister’s comments made headlines the following day and were interpreted as an offer to serve again after the next election.

Prayut said yesterday his reference to “democratic means” related to decisions to be made by the Constitution Drafting Commission and the Constitutional Court in regard to a new constitution and its organic laws.

The prime minister, who also heads the National Council for Peace and Order, refused to comment on a suggestion by his supporters that he should become a non-elected prime minister after the next election, as Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda was from 1980 to 1988.

Prayut came under fire from critics after his remarks last Friday. Pheu Thai and Democrat politicians called on him to form his own political party to contest the next election.

A group of “friends” in the National Legislative Assembly also suggested that Prayut set up his own party.

In response, Prayut said yesterday he would focus on running the government for his remaining time in office rather than think of forming a new party or entering politics.

“Let’s talk about this when there will be an election. It’s not time for that now. I don’t want to waste my time. Don’t try to pit me against others,” he told reporters.

The PM also said he was planning to reshuffle his Cabinet to add deputy ministers to ministries that have none now, noting that the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry was one of them.

Prayut said he trusted all his ministers but he would investigate any allegation of irregularity against them.

Currently, two Cabinet seats are vacant. The post-coup interim charter allows the Cabinet to have no more than 35 members, in addition to the prime minister.

“The suggestion is a political trap that has killed several generals in the past,” said Suriyasai, the deputy dean of the College of Social Innovation at Rangsit University.

The country’s two major parties – Pheu Thai and Democrat – had suggested that Prayut set up a political party and be its candidate in the coming election.

Last week, he offered to serve as PM after the next election via “graceful” means.

Some members of the National Legislative Assembly and the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) have shown support for Prayut to be the next leader. Suriyasai said the parties’ suggestion was a useless and old-fashioned discourse from old politics, which struckstuck to an election format and was part of political failure.

Many political blocs have recently tried to drag Prayut into joining their team and the junta head might get sucked into playing politics rather than focusing on reforming the country, he said.

Prayut should put the reform plan into action before the next general election, as he has gained overwhelming support from many people.

His popularity will soon fade but his achievements would be enduring. The country might not overcome polarisation, as no political party has begun to reform itself. They’re engaging in arguments regarding an outsider premier, he added.

Sompong Sakawee, an NRSA member, said it was possible for the junta chief to set up his own party because many of his supporters have recently sought advice from Sompong on how to prevent history repeating itself if the military really wants to start a party.

In 1992, the military-backed Samakhitham Party fell out of public favour and was opposed by the pro-democracy movement after it supported coup chief General Suchinda Kraprayoon as the premier.

If Prayut formed a military-leaning party he could attract 4 million to 5 million members and win the next election, he said.

Former Democrat MP Wirat Kalayasiri said it would not be easy for an outsider to become prime minister because the selection process will have to abide by the constitution and the political situation is unpredictable.

However, Wirat, the party’s legal adviser, said the selection of a premier starts from the Lower House, which proposes a list of candidates.

If a candidate wins the vote of the combined houses, the race for premier is over. If it doesn’t end there, the next steps should also follow the charter.

At least half of the 500-seat Lower House has to call a joint meeting of houses. Two-thirds of Parliament members will have to waive the PM candidate list.

Then the House will have to nominate another premier candidate and Parliament will again have to elect one with the approval of at least 376 members.

The opinion poll was conducted on 1,293 people from Monday till Saturday.

It found that 26 per cent and 46 per cent of those surveyed were very confident or fairly confident in PM Prayut respectively. They said that the PM had accomplished many things in the past two years and was capable of dealing with immediate problems, besides being a good, hard-working, and sincere person.

Some 19 per cent and 8 per cent said they were not very confident and not confident at all in the PM respectively because they thought he had a problem controlling himself and he came to power through a coup, which made scrutiny of his government impossible.

The survey also revealed the five most satisfying works undertaken by the Prayut administration.

More than 75 per cent said they were impressed with the corruption fighting both in the private and public sector.

Some 71 per cent were satisfied with the forest reclamation measures, as well as actions taken against people who had encroached on preserved forests.

Peacekeeping, social order, and drug crackdowns came third with 70.6 per cent of the respondents voicing satisfaction with those measures.

A survey showed that 65.5 per cent of respondents in Thailand were satisfied with government efforts to tackle human trafficking after the country was raiseed from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report.

The fifth most satisfying measure was the reduction in petrol and energy prices (63.4 per cent).

As for what needs improvement the most, 82.6 per cent said the economy and 78.6 said bread-and-butter, cost of living, and quality of life issues.

The deep South conflict was third on the list with 73 per cent saying the government should speed up its work to deal with the issue. The constitution and the writing of organic laws and law changes came fourth (67 per cent).

The fifth issue deemed in need of most improvement was the agricultural sector, including the fall in prices for agricultural products.

As for the government’s overall performance, two thirds – 66 per cent – said they were confident in the regime, reasoning that it had been decisive and able to tackle problems quickly and followed the roadmap, as planned.

In another survey by Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Business Administration conducted on 4,000 respondents, PM Prayut earned a score of 8.63 points out of 10 for helping people ease bread-and-butter problems over the past two years.

Trade and investment, security, political conflict, and corruption were named as areas that people want the government to tackle the most.