Drafters will get free hand: Sonthi
The military would not dictate the content of the new permanent constitution, Gen Sonthi Boonyakalin, head of the Council of National Security (CNS), said yesterday.
Sonthi played down growing fears the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA), which is now being selected by the CNS from a shortlist of 200 people chosen from the National People's Assembly (NPA) earlier this week, would merely serve the interests of army chiefs.Sonthi said the CNS would select able people who know how to draft the new charter and would consider balancing choices from different sectors and professions. "We can't force them to do things but responsible people [selected] will know what the constitution should look like," he said. The 100 names to be selected from the pool of 200 would further select 25 among themselves to be joined by another 10 handpicked by CNS - to make up the 35-person Constitution Drafting Assembly. Sonthi said the additional 10 to be appointed directly by the CNS would all be legal experts qualified to carry out the task. The coup leader said the only thing he expects from them is to keep to the given time frame. The Nation
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