Held at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan Campus, the exhibition focused on the politically controversial points in the charter draft such as the single-ballot electoral system, the non-MP prime minister, and the authorisation of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) as well as its weapon – Article 44 – to stay in power for at least 15 months after the charter is promulgated.

It was a bid to encourage voters to say ‘No’ in a referendum set to take place in July, they said.

NDM is an independent political movement. Its members include the 14 student activists who campaigned against the 2014 coup and current regime. They include the Dao Din group from Khon Kaen and students from Thammasat.

Some of these individuals received local and international attention last year when they were detained for about two weeks after staging protests against the junta.

Besides the exhibition, the activists also screened a Chilean film, “No”, based on the successful campaign to overthrow dictatorship in Chile via a referendum in 1988.

Later, the youths staged a fund-raising concert: “We are Friends: The Naughty Citizens Day”. Tickets were sold for Bt100 each.

A key NDM figure, Rangsiman Rome, a law student at Thammasat, said the funds would be used to subsidise the group’s activities against the constitution draft until the referendum is held. Before the event, he informed the police and they had allowed them to go ahead.

“In the meantime, we will stay reserved about the constitution draft, but will move again after the final version is completed. [We] will certainly campaign against it, since fundamentally the drafters do not represent the people and were appointed by the coup-makers, the NCPO,” the activist said.

Rangsiman also expressed concern over the fairness of the proposed referendum. He urged the government to allow both supporters and opponents of the draft to campaign according to their preference.

Meanwhile, another public talk on the constitution draft entitled “What’s up, new charter?” by an independent civil society group, Prachamati.org, that was to take place today at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), was cancelled.

Police contacted the BACC and said the activity would be deemed a political assembly and would violate an NCPO order.

The people responsible should have sought permission from the authorities first, they said.

However, the police did not respond when Prachamati.org later sent an official letter to explain that it was not a political assembly but an activity that opened space for free speech and thus it should not be prohibited.

The institute announced on its website that the private discussion is part of its Global Leader Briefing Series, and is organised in association with the World Economic Roundtables.

The event is open only to its members.

“While no longer ‘Teflon Thailand’, the country remains a regional and international player. In this private discussion, Thaksin Shinawatra offers his candid insights on the economic, regional, and global implications of Thailand’s complicated relationship with democracy,” it said on the website.

Based in New York, the World Policy Institute says it aims to build a collaborative network focused on developing constructive solutions to global policy challenges.

The government would first have to see details about the national strategy proposals or the bill could possibly contradict the supreme law and become ineffective, he said yesterday on a television program. “Plus, [we] also have to heed opinions of all parties, debate, and resolve what we are going to do. We cannot tell now how many years we will employ this strategy,” Meechai said. “I believe that the government will wait until the charter draft is done before they proceed with the national strategy.”

The national strategy bill has been proposed by a national administration reform panel under the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA). The panel argues that the country lacks a cohesive strategy and needs one to move in the right direction over the next 20 years.

However, the bill’s stipulation that a strategy committee be formed and made up of key powerbrokers such the premier and heads of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and NRSA has stirred controversy, as it is seen as a means for the current regime to retain power. People are also concerned about the legitimacy of the regime to set out a strategy that would be binding on future elected governments for up to 20 years.

The chief drafter also revealed that his panel had accepted a proposal by the NLA and NRSA to include a reform chapter in the constitution draft.

“Currently, we are gathering all the comments from the NRSA and the government about reform points. But the most urgent ones that will definitely appear in the draft now are education and justice,” Meechai said.

“We will ask the government whether there are any other points they would like to be reformed instantly within this government. If yes, we will write it down. But if it is a long-term scheme we will set out that it should be done within five years so that the new government can carry it on.”

Boonlert said the Constitution Drafting Commission had addressed radio-frequency and satellite-orbit regulations in the Duties of the State section of Article 56, meaning the state would be a principal body in carrying out the tasks.

This is in contrast to the 1997 Constitution, where the equivalent article was put under the section concerning people’s rights and freedoms, including the media’s rights and freedom, Boonlert said at a seminar in a Bangkok hotel yesterday.

“This means it would be more difficult for people to cite the charter for their own benefits,” said Boonlert, a former member of the now-defunct National Reform Council’s media committee.

The absence of the term “independent government agency” in the article makes it vague on what body would be responsible for handling the regulations, he added.

Independent agencies, he said, had long been responsible for designating radio frequencies and regulating the broadcasting industry.

It is also unclear what state body would regulate satellite orbits, whether it would be any a ministry or a panel, Boonlert said, adding that the terms defining satellite orbits were insufficiently defined.

He also feared that some articles would infringe on the media’s roles, such as Article 34 in the People’s Rights and Freedoms section. The article states that people and the media are free to express opinions provided they do not incite hatred and threaten security.

“This was never present in any previous charters,” he said. “Future organic laws may have to be issued to enforce the authority in this particular duty.”

At the same seminar, Thailand Development Research Institute chairman Somkiat Tangkitvanich presented TDRI research on regulations on media convergence. Somkiat said separate regulations covering the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors were no longer effective as the sectors had become more integrated.

He suggested changes be carried out to relevant acts and laws and that fair regulations be created in regards to media convergence.

He also recommended that new legal instruments as well as codes of conduct be developed parallel with creating a comprehensive set of media regulations to cover both media producers and consumers.

Yingluck said she wanted to see a new constitution that “belongs to the people and meets international standards”.

She was in effect speaking against a Cabinet call for exceptions to certain constitutional rules during the transition, which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said might take about five years.

The ex-prime minister also called for an election as soon as possible. “If you ask Thai people, I believe everyone wants to see a new election and a return of power to the people very soon,” she told reporters.

“I don’t think there should be any mechanism for the transition. I want to see a constitution that belongs to the people and meets international standards, or it will be difficult to explain to foreign investors and other countries.”

Yingluck yesterday went to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders to attend a witness hearing in the case where she is accused of negligence in connection with her elected government’s rice-pledging subsidy programme.

Speaking about her recent meeting with United Nations officials, Yingluck said they asked about Thailand’s situation and expressed concern over the junta’s “road map” to an election. “They want international rules to restore confidence towards Thailand,” she said.

Yingluck said she was convinced the military’s ruling National Council for Peace and Order would strictly follow the road map, noting that General Prayut had also made an assurance about this. He had said he expected the next election to be held by July next year.

In a related development, Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission, described as “wild imagination” comments by politicians about the charter containing a mechanism for a five-year transitional period. Meechai said the constitution drafters had not written anything about this matter.

“If we do, we will have to disclose it publicly. We won’t just secretly put it in somewhere in the constitution and subject the draft to a referendum,” he said.

CAMPAIGNING TO vote for or against the charter draft is legal but any efforts to call for a boycott of the referendum would be illegal, Election Commission (EC) member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said yesterday.

“Anyone trying to block the referendum from being held will face up to a Bt3-billion civil lawsuit,” he said.

Somchai was speaking after meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam regarding the details of holding the referendum in July or August.

He said campaigns to reject the charter draft would be regarded as within people’s right to express their opinions but they must not be used as political tools to favour or disadvantage particular political groups. Campaigns are also banned from using false information and mudslinging. Electoral complaints can be filed the same as in a general election.

“Everyone can freely express views about the charter draft but not create division. EC officials will also be punished if they do not carry out their duties impartially. Officials will face much harsher punishment if they are found in violation,” Somchai said.

He added that students and local leaders such as kamnan and village heads could convey correct information about the charter draft content but they should not directly advocate voting for or against the draft.

Somchai said the government wanted the deciding referendum criteria to be a majority of voters who cast ballots, not a majority of total eligible voters, as was conveyed during a previous meeting with Wissanu. But there had been further discussions about the wording in the interim charter that would clarify the issue.

Somchai said he had given a message to Wissanu for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that the EC wanted the results of the public referendum to be acceptable to the public, including the referendum procedure.

The government also wanted to expand the voter base by allowing voters who were 18 as of January 1 to have the right to vote in the referendum. Somchai said he had not yet checked how many more people would be eligible if the move was implemented.

He added that the EC would not ask the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to cancel the ban on political gatherings, because campaigners who used stages authorised by the EC would be within their legal rights.

Somchai said the referendum date would be held a week before or after July 31. The exact date will be announced later.

The charter draft will be disseminated to the public starting on April 9. The EC plans to provide stages for parties to campaign to reject or accept the draft.

The EC will also print 1.2 million copies of a full version of the draft, which will be distributed to the offices of local leaders, schools and libraries in communities.

Another 6 million copies, not more than 20 pages long, will summarise the content of the charter draft and be given to members of the public.

Another 17 million copies of an abridged draft will be distributed to households of eligible voters.

The funds allocated for printing totalled Bt200 million, down from an earlier estimate of Bt800 million. The EC will also disseminate the content of the charter draft through mobile device applications and websites in both the full and abridged versions.

He said holding the referendum would cost Bt3.4 billion or less.