‘Not in line with democracy’: former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra risks junta’s wrath by rejecting draft constitution
The military has said the proposed constitution will pave the way for a general election in 2017 but critics disagree
Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Tuesday she rejected a draft constitution sponsored by the generals who toppled her government two years ago, and would vote against it in an August 7 referendum.
The referendum is an important step for the military government that took power after the May 2014 coup as it tries to shape a political system that it hopes will end a decade of turmoil in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.
Critics say the charter will entrench military rule, weaken democratically elected governments and do little to heal political divisions.
Having followed the process and content of the draft all along, I see that it isn’t in line with democracy. Therefore I reject this draft
Yingluck’s party has already rejected the draft charter, as has the leader of its main rival, and she echoed their criticism of it as undemocratic.
“Having followed the process and content of the draft all along, I see that it isn’t in line with democracy,” Yingluck said on her Facebook page. “Therefore I reject this draft,” she said, adding that she would vote “no” on Sunday.
Yingluck, sister of populist former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was also ousted in a coup, was impeached last year by a junta-appointed assembly over a failed rice subsidy programme and banned from politics for five years.
The military has said the proposed constitution will pave the way for a general election in 2017, and will ensure clean, stable politics in a country rocked by years of turmoil as former telecommunications tycoon Thaksin and his followers challenged the military and royalist establishment. Critics say it is aimed at constraining elected governments largely through an appointed upper house of parliament.