As the count got underway, it was soon apparent that Thais had voted Yes. Around 50.5 million Thais of the total population of 65 million were eligible to vote this time, compared to 45 million eligible in the last referendum.
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Suchit Bunbongkarn, an academic who helped draft the country’s 1997 constitution, said the political division among Thais will continue, but the intensity of conflict will lessen if the referendum receives approval followed by the holding of elections.
But critics say the new constitution would radically change the way Thailand is governed in favour of the military establishment.
“The importance of this referendum for me is how we move the country forward and I’ve come to exercise my right to vote”, one voter said.
The Pheu Thai party made several criticisms on the draft constitution, such as too much curtailment of administrative officials and too much power bestowed upon the Constitutional Court and any independent organizations, the possible generation of a multiparty government which is not stable enough to run the country, and a almost impossible amendment of the constitution, adding that it is also unfair that the draft exempts the NCPO from any punishments. They are particularly opposed to sections that would permit a non-elected prime minister, turn the senate into an appointed body with sitting members of the military and give extra power to the courts. Under the abolished 2007 constitution, half the Senate was elected, and the prime minister had to come from the lower house.
– Emergency decrees enacted by the junta without any parliamentary consent remain valid.
The junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), banned debate about the constitution and campaigning ahead of the vote.
Pavin, a Thai and a vocal critic of the junta, told The Associated Press that a victory in the referendum would give the junta the reason to tell the world “don’t you dare criticize us anymore because we have the legitimacy”.
Thailand has endured 13 successful military coups and 11 attempted takeovers since a constitutional monarchy replaced an absolute one in 1932.
With access to the rural heartlands dominated by military-controlled state machinery, “vote no” campaigns conducted mainly through social media found relatively less traction.
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. Junta set up hand-picked committees to draft a charter that would enshrine its declared goal of reforming politics by eliminating corruption.
Prior to the referendum, the draft charter had been publicly rejected by former Puea Thai party prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra as well as Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Whichever way the vote goes, the United Nations would like to see more dialogue between the military and political opponents, said Luc Stevens, the U.N. chief in Thailand. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose righteous rule has anchored the kingdom since 1946, is 88 and ailing.
If a majority of voters say yes, the draft becomes the 20th constitution of Thailand, enhancing the military government’s legitimacy in the run-up to an election which Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who led the 2014 coup, has promised will happen next year. He has lived overseas since 2008 to avoid prison for a corruption conviction that he says was politically motivated.
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Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said turnout was possibly lower than previously thought. His sister Yingluck swept to power with an electoral landslide in 2011, and her government was ousted by Prayuth three years later in the 2014 coup.
