The new constitution should use the annulled 1997 Constitution as a guideline because it would plug loopholes for abuse more quickly, a former charter drafter Kanin Boonsuwan said yesterday.

However, the draft should seek a public referendum before being presented for royal endorsement, he said.

The drafting should be done as quickly as possible, he said.

Doing so would save time and prevent conflict between people of differing opinions, he said.

Plugging loopholes in the constitution, which have now been clearly identified in the recent crisis, can be quickly fixed. Doing so would avoid the need for drafting a whole new constitution, he said.

Using the 1997 Constitution as guideline would also prevent the drafting from being used as a platform for people who are seeking to obtain power, he said.

Kanin said giving great power to a prime minister was not the problem of the 1997 Constitution as some critics claim.

The problem, he said, was with the mechanism for checks and balances, which proved inefficient and inadequate.

Former Mahachon Party leader and political scientist Anek Laothamatas said the new constitution should limit the term of a prime minister to one term or four years.

He said it should also allow a minister to serve just two terms or eight years but not set a limit for MPs.

He said the new prime minister should be knowledgeable about politics, economics and be reform-minded.

He said drafting the new constitution should give priority to prevent economical or business interests from influencing politics.

For example, spouses of incumbent politicians should not be allowed to hold shares of companies for their husbands.

However, Anek said corruption cases filed with the National Counter-Corruption Commission (NCCC) should have an expiry date. The date may be lengthened, he said, but they should not be allowed to carry on indefinitely.

He said the new NCCC should work actively and not adopt the poor practices of state bureaucracies that are known for their slowness.

A political scientist at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, Somkiat Pongpaiboon, said the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) should restore civil rule and end its role as soon as possible.

Moreover, it should carefully appoint key people to head political reforms. Otherwise, he warned, people may wonder if the coup had only transferred power from one group to another, as with the February 1991 coup.

Several candidates for positions in heading key reforms under the CDRM were involved in former governments.

They include Meechai Ruchupan, a deputy prime minister during the Suchinda Kraprayoon government, Wissanu Krea-ngam who was a deputy prime minister in the Thaksin government and Borwornsak Uwanno, a Cabinet secretary-general under Thaksin.

Meechai, who has been appointed a legal adviser to the CDRM, has proposed Wissanu and Borwornsak join him.

Somkiat, who was also a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), had actively campaigned for Thaksin's ouster before last Tuesday's coup.