Preliminary results of a referendum on Sunday showed Thailand has voted to accept a junta-backed constitution that would pave the way for an election next year but require future elected governments to rule on the military’s terms.
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Thai voters have approved a new draft constitution, the country’s election commission said Sunday evening.
If the majority of voters say “yes”, the draft becomes the Constitution, enhancing the military government’s legitimacy in the run-up to an election which Prime Minister Prayuth, who led the 2014 coup, has promised will happen next year.
The people of Thailand voted yesterday in a referendum on a military-backed constitution that the ruling junta has said will usher in political stability in the troubled nation.
He said that the charter was regarded as “people’s constitution” because it was approved by more than 50 percent of eligible voters which is in accordance with worldwide standard of referendum.
Thais will vote on a junta-crafted constitution on Sunday in a referendum where independent campaigning and open debate has been banned, as opponents warn the document will perpetuate military power. Critics say the restrictions ensured that most people were unaware of the pitfalls of the charter, and were probably anxious to get the long-drawn process over with so they could move on. Criticism of the draft was made punishable by 10 years in jail.
Meanwhile, the prime minister called on people to register for the upcoming votes, which include the commune election on June 4, 2017 and the 2018 national election.
Despite the strong margin of victory in Sunday’s referendum, just 55 percent of the population turned out to vote.
“Although many suspected that the new charter could undermine their previously held democratic rights, the perceived risk of greater political uncertainty and economic instability, if the constitution had been voted down, was far less appealing”, said John Marrett, Research Analyst Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Chan-ocha’s government had said that if the public rejected the charter the military would draft a new one, likely prolonging their rule and extending their grip on power.
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.
Jirattha Vitthaya, a 40-year-old company worker, said she voted against the new draft. “The constitution can be used as a device to hold onto political power”.
A telling sign is that since the end of the monarchy’s absolute rule in 1932, Thailand has had 20 constitutions and 13 coups.
Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai has asked the global community to respect the decision made by the Thai people at Sunday’s charter referendum, the same way they do referendums in other countries.
Thailand’s military government mustered majority support for its proposed constitution with 61.4 per cent of total 94 per cent votes counted supporting the proposal and 38.6 per cent opposing it.
The army ousted Thaksin in a 2006 coup, after “yellow shirt” protesters took to the streets and accused him of abuse of power, corruption and disrespecting the king. “Go and ask the political parties”, he said.
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The crackdown was an apparent attempt to hush anti-military activists and supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist leader whose younger sister Yingluck was leader of the government toppled in the 2014 military coup.
