Thais awaited the results Sunday of a referendum on a new constitution that, if accepted, would lay the foundation for a civilian government influenced by the military and controlled by appointed rather than elected officials.
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The Thai referendum result – which sides with a military-minded constitution and a quasi- military government through an appointed senate, the judiciary and accountability-promoting agencies, at the expense of elected representation – has further challenged the narrative of global democratization.
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.
With 94 percent of the vote counted, early results from the Election Commission showed 61.4 percent of the country had voted for the charter, while 37.9 percent rejected it.
A Thai electoral worker prepares to start counting ballots at a polling station during a constitutional referendum vote in Bangkok, Thailand.
By Sunday evening, the commission said the unofficial tally meant almost 35 million of the 50 million eligible voters had cast their ballot at one of more than 95,000 polling stations. Opponents, including the country’s major political parties, say the constitution will tighten the military’s grip on power. There were no rallies, no open discussions, no media debates; if one criticized the constitution he or she faced 10 years in prison. Voters in Thailand today overwhelmingly approved a new constitution drafted by the military-led government.
Yesterday marked her family’s first loss at the polls since a charter referendum in the wake of a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra – Yingluck’s billionaire elder brother who sits at the crux of Thailand’s political schism.
“We need to hold a general election in 2017 because that is a promise we made”, he said ahead of the vote.
The second question was whether to allow a Senate picked by the military junta to help appoint the next prime minister.
Campaigning against the draft had been banned and dozens have been detained.
The new setup also gives military leaders final say in government decisions.
In the months leading up to the referendum, pro-democracy groups, including the New Democratic Movement, and independent activists continued to defy rules set by the Thai junta.
Any whiff of criticism of the draft constitution elicited a swift crackdown by the army, and charges under the military’s draconian referendum law.
The military says the new constitution will curb endemic political corruption and bring stability after the dizzying merry-go-round of recent years. There is little time and space for the incumbent authorities, under coup leader ex-general Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, to be complacent because the post-referendum polls in 2007 still went to a Shinawatra party. Would we even know he’s the world’s longest reigning monarch, 88, and said to be in declining health?
Thailand’s military celebrated its victory in a controversial referendum as the “will of the people” Monday, while leader Prayuth Chan-ocha seized the opportunity to decry the global community for its interference.
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.
Pitted against Thaksin and his allies is the royalist and military establishment which accused him of nepotism and abuse of power, accusations he denied. Thaksin is in self-exile from a 2008 criminal corruption conviction; Yingluck is now in the dock on criminal negligence charges for her populist rice subsidy scheme.
About 58% voted to allow the Senate to jointly vote for the prime minister, while nearly 42% rejected it, according to the Thai Election Commission.
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The proposed constitution was created to shift the balance of power away from major political parties and give a greater voice to medium-size parties under a new formula for awarding seats in the parliament.
