Noranit, strongly tipped to chair the CDA, said the public had no reason to worry about whether the charter writers could meet the 180day deadline.

The Interim Constitution was quite clear about instructions for charter writers to follow in order to ensure the successful completion of their job, he said.

The actual drafting will take no more than four months, while another month is needed for holding a referendum, he said. After the referendum, it will take about a month to draft organic laws, he added.

To expedite the drafting process, a series of public forums have been organised to solicit opinions on the new constitution, he said.

Charter writers are expected to iron out issues like the future role of the Senate and the 90day rule on party affiliation to contest elections, he said.

Another CDA member, Pornchai Dheppanya, said he did not anticipate any delay in the charter's drafting.

The 35 charter writers, including 10 appointed by the Council for National Security, will come from the academic community and are well known to the public, he said.

He urged relevant parties to focus on ways to improve the political system rather than widening the debate to cover new issues, such as installing an unelected prime minister.

He also said reconciliation was the way to leave political animosity behind.

To achieve reconciliation, the judicial review on electoral fraud involving two major parties, the Thai Rak Thai and Democrats, should penalise individual executives instead of the parties, Pornchai said.

"The dismantling of one or both parties will inflame social division," he said.

The Nation