The junta imposed severe restrictions in the run-up to the referendum, banning political rallies, independent campaigns and open discussion about the draft constitution. Whether the blast was connected to the voting in referendum was not known. However, regional divisions along political lines were observed as residents of the far north and south voted against the new measures.
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(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit). Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, center, talks to reporters after casting his vote in a referendum on a new constitution at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016.
Thais voted overwhelmingly Sunday to approve a new constitution that critics warn will weaken democracy and entrench extraordinary powers for the ruling military junta.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, who led the 2014 coup as head of the army, earlier urged Thais to courageous monsoon rains to cast their vote amid concern that a ban on campaigning would lead to a low turnout.
People are being asked to check “yes” or “no” for the constitution and related provisions on the ballot paper.
But she was still wary about openly criticizing the government.
The junta, however, insists the charter is created to heal more than a decade of divisive politics in Thailand.
“I don’t see why Thai people have to choose between a corrupt, abusive democratically elected government and no democracy”, Abhisit said. Official results aren’t expected for several days. That question elicited a less enthusiastic approval – 58 percent “yes” and 42 percent “no”.
Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s regional deputy director said in a statement on Friday.
The vote will pave the way for a general election in 2017, but requires future governments to rule on the military’s terms.
The constitution will be very hard to change without backing from the military, apart from requiring support from a majority of the parliamentary assembly comprising of 750 members. “We want the country to move forward and figure out ways to have stability for at least five years”, Prayuth said Friday.
It also includes a 250-member appointed Senate made up of commanders of the army and other security services.
More importantly, the appointed senators can participate in electing the prime minister.
– Emergency decrees enacted by the junta without any parliamentary consent remain valid.
Members of the anti-junta opposition say they are biding their time until the 2017 election when, if a party they back takes power, they can try to scrap the military charter.
“This constitution is not from the people”. But we are good sports, and we hope that peace comes now. In Thailand the army holds for itself the role of an “enlightened guardian” of Thai law and order, with 13 military coups and 11 more attempted takeovers since 1932.
The constitution would be the country’s 20th in 84 years.
But critics say the new constitution would radically change the way Thailand is governed in favour of the military establishment.
Thaksin’s political machine has easily won every national election since 2001, mainly due to the support of working-class and rural voters who benefited from his populist policies. The revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, now 88, has ruled since 1946 but has been confined to a hospital for much of the past decade.
Mr Shinawtra was deposed in a coup in 2006 following protests by “yellow shirts”, who accused him of corruption. He went into exile overseas in 2008. His sister Yingluck swept to power with an electoral landslide in 2011, and her government was ousted by Prayuth in the 2014 coup.
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Reuters interviews with senior officers showed the military’s ambition is to make future coups unnecessary through the new charter by weakening political parties and ensuring the military a role in overseeing the country’s economic and political development.
