Thailand’s new draft constitution is a ‘threat to democracy’
Critics complain the ruling military junta's blueprint for kingdom's future ensures the establishment retains control, regardless of polls
A new Thai constitution being drafted by the ruling junta is a throwback to an era when a royalist and military elite had a stranglehold on politics, analysts and politicians say, warning of dire consequences for democracy.
In the legislative building that once housed elected MPs, Paiboon Nititawan is one of a core group of military appointees charting Thailand's future.
A year ago the veteran conservative was giving rousing speeches to crowds of protesters clamouring for the toppling of elected prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and a military takeover.
Thailand's generals did just that in May. And Paiboon was rewarded with a seat on the influential committee redrafting the kingdom's constitution.
"Thai political parties are different to other countries'... they can be bought," he adds.
In the eyes of the country's elite, democratically elected politicians have ruined Thailand with populist policies and cronyism that lead the poor astray.
They long for what they regard as a golden era of parliament overseen by unelected elders who kept populism in check.
For many Thais the constitutional debate has a sense of deja vu. The charter has undergone more than a dozen rewrites in the last 80 years, either by democrats trying to consolidate parliamentary power or counter moves by the royalist elite to create a more pliant democracy.
The current junta led by former army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha is aiming for the latter.
But they insist their reforms will finally end political bickering and protests that have dogged what used to be one of Southeast Asia's most vibrant economies.
The first draft is expected on April 17 and the final document should receive royal approval in September. Elections are slated for early next year.
But enough details have been published to see what kind of future the generals envisage.
Paiboon explains two key reforms. A senate with power to impeach elected politicians will be appointed and dominated by the old guard - including judges, former ministers and the military.
Parliament will be elected via a proportional representation voting system similar to Germany's that is designed to favour smaller parties and coalition governments.
Analysts say those moves are designed to break the backs of large parties and - above all - ensure no group loyal to ousted premiers Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck ever form an outright majority.
"Elected politicians will be intensively monitored by a small band of bureaucrats, academics, and other technocrats from a moralistic-conservative wing," explains Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, a scholar at Chulalongkorn University.
Cultivating a staunch following among the country's urban working-class voters and farmers in the north, parties linked to the Shinawatra family have won every election since 2001.
Commentators say the new constitution attempts to return to a pre-Thaksin era. "This is surely a step back into what Thailand experienced in the 1980s - when the power was firmly in the hands of non-elective institutions," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai academic at Kyoto University.
