The ballot had relatively simple choices being offered to voters.
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Thais began voting on Sunday in a referendum on a new junta-backed constitution that would pave the way for a general election in 2017 but require future governments to rule on the military’s terms.
Since the vote, the European Union and the United States – both key allies – have called on Prayut to hold elections swiftly and lift restrictions on civil liberties imposed since his takeover.
The passage of the charter means the junta is more likely to stick to its current time line of holding elections late next year.
Early results for Bangkok – reported by Nation TV and based on results from individual polling stations – showed 60-75 percent in favor of the draft constitution, not surprising given the heavy support the military has among the capital’s residents. His son, the crown prince, isn’t almost as popular and some here say one of the reasons for the coup two years ago was to help ensure that the transition goes smoothly. But, asked whether a junta-appointed Senate should have a role in choosing the prime minister, the vote was 58.1 per cent for and 41.9 per cent against.
BACKGROUND: Only about 55 percent of the electorate of roughly 50 million voted in the referendum, reflecting indifference and apathy for a system that they knew would bring little change to their everyday lives.
The Sunday national referendum was the first test case for the Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a retired army general who has severely curtailed dissent since coming to power in a 2014 coup.
“This referendum was not something that the government was required to do; it was a voluntary initiative taken by this administration as part of our people-centered approach to policy”, Prayuth said in a statement. “This is why people cut them some slack”, he said.
But he said it was disappointing there had been some “inappropriate interventions by foreign elements during these delicate times of our political transition”.
Student activists, among the most vocal critics of the military government, have actively campaigned against the draft and more than a dozen have been detained.
Jatuporn Prompan, leader of the anti-junta Red Shirt movement, hit out at the result.
“Please have confidence in the roadmap”, Prayuth told reporters at Government House, his official offices, before a cabinet meeting.
He also expressed his appreciation for Mr Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, for crafting a charter which was accepted by the majority of the Thai people as he insisted that neither the government nor the National Council for Peace and Order had interfered with the CDC in its drafting of the charter.
“This is a grand day for the resurrection of enshrined military power”, said Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai.
The new constitution would include a 250-member military-appointed senate along with a 500-member elected House of Representatives.
Critics say the overall aim is to create coalition governments that are fragile and fractious and effectively extend the military’s influence for the foreseeable future.
Politicians, academics and rights groups say otherwise.
And it seems aimed specifically at the political machine of the Shinawatra clan, the populist prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was deposed by the military in 2006, and it was his sister’s government that was the one removed by the military two years ago.
Thaksin’s supporters credit him with recognizing the inequality between urban Bangkok and the poor in the rural north and northeast.
“The people have decided and we need to respect that decision”, Abhisit said in an interview Monday.
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“It won’t be politics ruled by the majority”, he said.
