They fear the appointed senate will straitjacket elected politicians while a new proportional representation voting system could produce weak coalition governments.
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The answer is not too complicated.
The “yes” camp had received almost 62 percent of votes and the “no” got 38 percent, according to Thai PBS, an independent public broadcaster, and Voice TV, which is aligned with opponents of the military government.
“I believe a big part of the people who accepted the charter truly believe that it can solve corruption problems”.
“We think there will be an election at the earliest in September or October 2017 and a new government by December 2017”, Chatchai Na Chiang Mai, spokesman for the Constitution Drafting Committee, said.
Thais handed the junta of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha a convincing win in the referendum on Sunday, with preliminary results showing over 61 per cent voted in favour.
Campaigning for or against the draft constitution was outlawed, with violators threatened with up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Key provisions allowed for a military-appointed 250-member senate and for an un-elected “outsider” – and possibly a retired military officer – prime minister.
The military says its new constitution will curb endemic political corruption and bring stability after the dizzying merry-go-round of recent years.
Wirot Pao-in, acting head of the opposition Pheu Thai Party, said Thais may have voted for the constitution as a quick route to a military-backed election, which is expected to come by the end of next year. It ensures that the generals who perpetrated the 2014 coup that drove a democratically elected government from power can not be prosecuted and in effect legally authorizes the military to remove any elected government without having to mount a coup. “It is a vote out of anxiety about the future”.
Many also said they did not fully understand the second question posed on the ballot, which asks whether voters agreed with allowing senators to join the elected House of Representatives in selecting a prime minister. Leading the other side is Thailand’s traditional ruling class and royalists unnerved by Thaksin’s support, especially as it contemplates its future.
The red shirts are supporters of Yingluck and her billionaire brother, Thaksin, who was ousted in a previous coup in 2006.
While Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile, he retains a strong influence, particularly with his rural support base in the north.
Thailand has endured 13 successful military coups and 11 attempted takeovers since it replaced an absolute monarchy with a constitutional one in 1932.
There was high voter turnout at military polling stations.
Authorities estimated a subdued turnout at around 55 percent of Thailand’s 50.2 million registered voters, after a poll run-up that saw independent campaigning and open debate barred.
Prayuth said he is “disappointed” with “foreign intervention” in the kingdom’s political transition, as the United States and the European Union have been critical of the military Junta’s suppression of campaigning during the referendum. The government controlled its opponents. with arrests and stifling of opinions.
“After the vote, we could see better stability”. The problem is, how are we certain that the country will remain peaceful?
Prawit Wongsuwan, the 70-year-old deputy prime minister, for instance, was said to be behind inflating the costs of a park in Hua Hin, the site of the king’s summer palace, to pocket millions of dollars on the casting of bronze statues of the kings. Local media portrayed the result as popular rejection of established political parties and a return to the pre-coup democratic status quo. But it was also clearly created to permanently quash the electoral dominance of divisive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The NCPO led by Prayut, who was the army chief in 2014, staged a coup toppling the democratically elected government at that time.
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“I am sad, and regret that the country is stepping backward by accepting a constitution that may look democratic but really isn’t truly democratic”. Another protrusive result, unlike its precursor in 2007, was the convincing rejection of the draft charter in the three southernmost border provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, beset with a virulent Malay-Muslim insurgency over the past 12 years.
