'Alternative charter not the reason for Paris trip'
Members of the anti-coup September 19 Group eat a cake during a protest against the new constitution outside Parliament yesterday, to satirise what they describe as benefit-sharing among groups standing to gain from the current political structure.
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Three senior lawmakers yesterday dismissed an allegation that they and a top general had vacationed in France during Songkran as a pretext to write a contingency draft in case the new constitution failed to pass the referendum.
National Legislative Assembly (NLA) Speaker Meechai Ruchuphan and two NLA members, Wissanu Kreangam and Bowornsak Uwanno, went sightseeing in Paris along with General Winai Phattiyakul, secretary-general of the Council for National Security (CNS). The four claimed personal ties via the King Prajadhipok Institute and professed to be aficionados of European castles. "I did not take any legal textbooks on the trip. I went to admire old castles," Meechai said, insisting he could not have produced another charter draft without checking legal reference books. He said rumours about his trip were groundless, saying he and his three fellow holidaymakers did not touch on politics. "No one in my group met with [ousted premier] Thaksin Shinawatra as alleged as we were in Paris the entire time and he is in London," he said. He admitted, however, that he had exchanged a social greeting with Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat, former permanent secretary for justice, during a chance meeting at a Paris theatre. "We just said our sawatdees and did not stop to talk at all," Meechai said. Bowornsak said the trip was a private vacation and it would have been more convenient to work in Bangkok if he really wanted to produce an alternate draft to the new constitution. He also said it was impossible for him to meet with Thaksin in person because he still had "nightmares" about how he and the ousted premier had parted ways. "There is no way I could have had a meeting with Thaksin as everyone knows how hurt I was by his verbal attacks," he said, in reference to the scolding he received for resigning his position as Cabinet secretary-general. Constitution Drafting Assembly chairman Noranit Sethabutr said he saw no justification why the junta would have to write another draft in Paris. "The existing draft is easy to amend," he said. Noranit urged concerned parties to help push for the successful referendum instead of creating distractions. Constitution Drafting Committee secretary Somkid Lertpaitoon said he believed the CNS had a contingency plan to usher in the general election even if the new constitution was rejected by the referendum. "In my opinion, the CNS may amend either the 1976 Constitution or the 2007 draft and use it as the basis for the next election," he said.
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