Former deputy premier Wissanu Krea-ngam and former Cabinet secretary-general Borwornsak Uwanno do not deserve key posts under the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM), leading government critics warned yesterday.

Pol General Pratin Santiprapop, a former senator, said neither ex-Thaksin aide was suitable because they had served the deposed premier for a long time.

"Many people have phoned asking me to voice opposition to these two persons after there were reports that they could be named to work for the CDRM," he said.

Both Wissanu and Borwornsak are understood to have been asked by Meechai Ruchuphan, a legal expert, to help draft an interim constitution for the country after the CDRM overthrew the Thaksin government and abrogated the constitution last Tuesday.

Wissanu was reportedly seen visiting the CDRM yesterday.

Pratin said many other legal experts were qualified for the task, such as those from the judiciary, so the CDRM should review its choice.

"For instance, Charan Pakdithanakul of the Supreme Court is better qualified. The CDRM should not turn to Wissanu or Borwornsak. The former was in charge of the Thaksin government's probe into alleged corruption in the CTX explosives-detector scandal."

"Please remember that Wissanu's conclusion on the CTX scandal was that there had been no irregularity in the multibillion-baht procurement for Suvarnabhumi Airport even though there had been wrongdoing," said Pratin, who headed a Senate committee investigating the CTX scandal.

Rosana Tositrakul, head of an anti-corruption group of non-governmental organisations, said the CDRM should take this opportunity to crack down on corruption and no one with previous close links to the deposed premier should be involved in the process. "I think the CDRM needs highly qualified people to achieve its mission. It shouldn't have anyone with a questionable record, as far as his association with Thaksin is concerned, working on anti-corruption cases," she said.

Chirmsak Pinthong, another ex-senator, also felt that both Wissanu and Borwornsak were ineligible to help the CDRM because they were former top officials of the ousted government.