<div> <div>The EU Delegation has urged the junta to allow free discussion on the draft charter, saying that free discussion is a prerequisite for political reconciliation.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Werner Langen, Chair of the EU Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the ASEAN, said that the EU Delegation was concerned by junta laws that criminalize criticism of the draft constitution, saying that political reconciliation cannot happen if the junta does not listen to everyone’s voice, BBC Thai <a> </a></div></div>

<p>Draft charter only prolongs junta power: New Democracy Movement</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The New Democracy Movement (NDM), a youth pro-democracy activist group, has faulted the junta-sponsored draft constitution, concluding that the draft prolongs Thai junta rule.</p> <p>The NDM on Sunday, 15 May 2016, organised a public seminar on the junta-sponsored draft constitution at Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus, Bangkok,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lokwannee.com/web2013/?p=218822">Lokwanee News reported</a>.</p>

<p>Former senators, human rights and election commissioners have pointed out that the laws regulating campaigns before the referendum to pass the junta-sponsored draft constitution ironically go against the junta’s Interim Charter.</p> <p>Jon Ungpakorn, a former senator and current director of iLaw, a human rights advocacy group, Kraisak Choonhavan, former senator, and Niran Pitakwatchara, former member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on Tuesday, 10 May 2016, submitted a letter to Raksagecha Chaechai, Secretary-General of the Office of the Ombudsman.</p>

<div>Weakening elected government officials, enhancing bureaucracy, and increasing relations with influential capitalists is what the military is trying to do to secure its legitimacy after “the transition”, says Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist from Thammasat University.</div> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr">The Thai election commission has warned that people selling t-shirts with prints about the referendum on the junta-sponsored draft constitution might face up to 10 years imprisonment.</p> <p>On Wednesday, 4 May 2016, Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, Election Commissioner of Thailand (ETC), told media that certain political groups might be charged under the Draft Referendum Act for selling t-shirts with images or texts about the referendum on the draft constitution.</p>

<p>Thailand’s military government is brazenly seeking to shut down debate ahead of a referendum on a draft constitution, Amnesty International said today.</p> <p>At least a dozen Facebook commenters have been detained or charged on 27 April under a draconian new Order issued by the head of the military government. The arrests come after they commented on the controversial draft of a new constitution Thailand’s military government is seeking to impose.</p> <p>The Facebook users who were charged under the law now face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 baht ($5,715).</p>

<p dir="ltr">Academics pointed out that even though the junta-sponsored draft constitution passes the public referendum, it will have no legitimacy as the junta is clamping down hard on the draft critics.</p>

<div>The draft constitution is a written attempt by the junta to take Thai politics and society back to the pre-Thaksin era. The draft not only aims to prevent the emergence of a Thaksin-like government, but also the emergence of Thaksin-like policies, which were tangible and ‘edible’ for the poor.</div> <div> </div>

<p>Police officers confiscated campaign flyers against the junta-sponsored draft constitution from an academic and attempted to take her to a police station.</p> <p>At around 4 pm on Monday, 25 April 2016, police officers confiscated flyers titled ‘7 Reasons Not to Accept the Draft Constitution’ from Bencharat Sae-Chua, a political scientist teaching at Mahidol University, at a forum on the double questions on the draft constitution at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.</p>

<p>The deputy junta head ordered the authorities to launch investigations into the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and the anti-establishment red shirts for announcing their stands on the draft constitution. &nbsp;</p> <p>Thai News Agency reported on Monday, 25 April 2016, that Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, the deputy junta head and Defence Minister, told the media that no one is allowed to criticise the junta-sponsored draft constitution publicly as the Draft Referendum Act is already in force.</p>

<p>JAKARTA, 25 April 2016 — Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia have expressed deep concerns about Thailand’s new draft constitution, as well as a planned referendum on the charter, highlighting an apparent effort by the military government to strengthen and prolong its control over Thai politics and stifle open debate.</p>

<p>The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) anti-election group, has embraced the junta-sponsored draft charter, saying that it is a way out of the country’s political problems while the anti-establishment red shirts have urged the junta to lift the ban on debates over the draft. &nbsp;</p>