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.
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Partial results released by the Election Commission late Sunday showed 62 per cent of voters had approved the charter, with 90 per cent of votes counted so far.
The junta, formerly known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and led by former general Prayuth Chan-ocha, used sweeping powers to stifle debate and ban political rallies and independent campaigns against the constitution. “They will say the opposition can not say anything now”, said Pavin, who is Thai and a vocal critic of the junta.
Speaking to this website last week, Willy Fautre, director of the Brussels-based NGO, Human Rights Without Frontiers, said, “The referendum under military control is a farce and there is no guarantee that it will be fair”.
Thailand has had a decade of fractured politics and instability that have sometimes spilled over into violence on the streets. That veneer of stability could help explain the “yes” vote for the new constitution. There are many cases against Mr. Thaksin related to corruption waiting to be heard in the Thai courts.
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.
Almost 58 percent had voted in favor of the additional question while 42 percent countered it, he added.
“Today is a very important day for Thailand because this is the way of democracy, so make sure people understand the content and then share your opinion”, Yingluck told reporters after casting her vote, which she had previously said would be against the draft.
Under the “roadmap” the prime minister has said a general election would be held in 2017.
Coming to power in 2014 the regime has traded political pluralism and individual freedoms for stability, a traditional claim to legitimacy for military administrations worldwide. “It’s good to have the military baby-sitting the government for the next five years”.
At the same time, senior government officials reiterated the promise made by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ahead of Sunday’s referendum that a democratically elected government would take power at the earliest by December 2017.
He also did not rule out becoming prime minister again if the Senate chooses him.
Also, emergency decrees enacted by the junta without any parliamentary consent remain valid.
Provisions in the charter would legally oblige any future government to follow the military’s 20-year national development plan and allows military allies to take legal action against any government which does not adhere to the plan.
“But the people have spoken and we respect that choice”, he said. “We just hope that the government can do its best in the days to come”.
Thailand has experienced a repeated cycle of elections, coups and new constitutions since the absolute monarchy was abolished in 1932.
In its first test at the polls, Thailand’s military government won overwhelming approval Sunday of a new constitution that aims to reduce the power of political parties and extend the influence of the military. The junta set up hand-picked committees to draft a charter that would enshrine its declared goal of reforming politics by eliminating corruption.
The vote comes amidst concern about the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88.
“This is a redo of a military coup, using fear and intimidation to force Thai people to grant an extension of their control of power”, he said.
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“The politics from now will be more compromising, more negotiating”, Yuthaporn Issarachai, the dean of political science at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said in a television interview.
