In a 16-page paper, Thammasat University law dean Kamchai Chongjakphan told drafters to concentrate on strengthening checks and balances included in the 1997 Constitution.

"It is wrong to start on a new constitution. It is right to draft a constitution that will help solve a national crisis," Kamchai said.

He recommended the drafters use the abolished charter as a basis for a new document, with as few amendments as necessary.

"Corrections and improvements should only be made on important issues that are needed immediately [to solve] political crises."

Kamchai suggested the drafters not touch political hot potatoes, such as the status of prime ministers. The 1997 charter stipulates prime ministers be elected members of Parliament. He advocated steering clear of party-list representatives elected by proportional representation.

Issues like the death penalty and a state religion are not priorities, he said.

"This is because it may require more time than the framework given by the law allows, as well as the issue of the legitimacy of the Constitution Drafting Assembly ... the power held by the junta is not acknowledged by some," he wrote.

Instead, Kamchai proposed drafters addressed "immediate" issues and these included beefing up checks and balances on executive power and its corruption and morals. They need to create a self-determining Senate that can approve members of independent bodies.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation