Thai army chief: Charter skeptics can be tolerated

¡¡¡¡BANGKOK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The movements opposed to the new constitution now being drafted by the Constitution Drafting Committee of Thailand are not a critical threat to public acceptance and even enthusiasm for the new charter, Army Chief Gen.Sonthi Boonyaratkalin said on Monday.

¡¡¡¡Gen. Sonthi, also chairman of the Council for National Security(CNS), said that all Thais want to have democracy and the charter is being drafted by concerned citizens who understand the problems prevailing in the country.

¡¡¡¡Leaflets which are being circulated calling on the public to reject the new constitution are not the mainstream reaction, and such criticism is normal as a part of the democratic process, Sonthi was quoted as saying by the Thai News Agency.

¡¡¡¡The army chief said the date for the next general election, which politicians and civil society groups called on the CNS and the interim government to fix sooner, depends entirely on the public referendum for the constitution after drafting is complete.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, Democrat Party spokesman Ong-art Khlampaiboon said good elements contained in the 1997 constitution, which was abolished following last September coup d'etat, should be included in the new charter.

¡¡¡¡Ong-art said the new charter should clearly prevent the prime minister from abusing power and illegally giving preferential treatment in assisting "cronies", which becomes rampant corruption, and the premier should adhere to principles of good governance.

¡¡¡¡The reference was to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted by coup d'etat, partly because of charges of rampant corruption during his administration, the report said.

¡¡¡¡The new charter should also allow greater popular participation in politics, the governmental budget process and easier access to government information, Ong-art added.

¡¡¡¡Under the last charter, it was difficult for the public to participate in politics, Ong-Art noted. If a minister was suspected of corruption, it required at least 50,000 signatures to call him for investigation.