“Unless a new election is called, protests will continue and intensify because independent organisations can no longer do their job [and this is] triggering anti-government sentiment,” he said.

If, however, the government decides to cling to power, it will be a government in name only, as the people will have lost hope and trust in it.

Speaking at an academic seminar on constitutional amendments at Chulalongkorn University, Chai-anan said the current turmoil had erupted because people felt they were being cheated by the government, and a clean slate under a new government was needed to rectify the flawed provisions of the charter.

“The main goal for a charter rewrite is how to prevent capital power from gaining political domination,” he said.

Existing charter provisions have been trampled by power concentrated in the hands of capitalists-turned-politicians, he added. The government has control over all the checking mechanisms in order to stifle the voices of the minority.

“Chulalongkorn University’s political science lecturers voiced their criticism and the government mobilised the alumni to counter them, leading to the suspicion that the Constitution Court was swayed in its ruling [in favour of the prime minister],” Chai-anan said.

The Vajiravudh director said the present charter had been written to keep the bureaucracy from usurping the power of governmental and it had no provisions to deal with capital power that turned politics into a means to enrich businesses. “Even though democracy embraces the capitalist system, political scientists are obliged to devise ways to rein in capital power.”

The situation has reached a critical point where it is deemed necessary to draft a new provision to penalise politicians who directly or indirectly involve paper companies to avoid tax, he said, in a clear reference to the tax-free sale of Shin Corp.

The provisions of the Constitution will have to be reinforced in order to prevent a repeat of the plundering of the country by capital power, he said.

For example, existing provisions were inadequate to deal with corruption plaguing the Suvarnabhumi Airport. While the average US city airport has four CTX explosives-detection machines, Thailand ordered 26 as a way to fatten campaign funds, he said.

Whenever Thaksin travels and talks to foreign leaders, the public should be on the alert for the consequences, Chai-anan said.

Thaksin pushed through a new Thai flight to Chittagong, in Bangladesh, even though the route was not profitable. The deal, he said, was in exchange for a telecom concession won by Shin Corp.

Under Thaksin’s leadership, the country has seen an unprecedented rise in cronyism, he added.

In order to thwart a looming crisis, Thaksin should do three things, Chai-anan said.

Firstly, the prime minister should summon his relatives and order them to stop plundering before the entire country collapses.

Second, he should reply to charges raised against him in Parliament.