Interested parties are split about the appointment process for 35 charter writers to draft a new constitution and blame one another for trying to fix the new political rules.

"The National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] deems it necessary to expand the people's involvement in the charter-writing, and it is not too late to revise the composition of the body of charter-writers," NHRC chairman Saneh Chamarik said yesterday.

Saneh said the coup leaders and the interim government had erred in asking only a small number of law experts to rewrite the political rules. This led to suspicions of a power grab, he added.

The Constitution Drafting Assembly should be allowed to freely name the 25 charter-writers instead of being forced allocate seats under a quota system, he said.

Should the CDA's charter-writers turn out to be a lopsided representation, the Council for National Security could still balance the drafting panel from its 10 charter-writers, Sanhe said.

He warned that the strict quota allocation of seats would leave many qualified individuals out of the charter rewrite.

NHRC member Sunee Chairos expressed disappointment at the drafting process, which she said suggested that the political system was being changed by a select few into something the people did not want.

"The writing of the charter has got off on the wrong foot by trying to impose the will of the ruling elite on the people instead of asking what the people want," she said.

Sunee's colleague Charan Dithapichai said he doubted whether the country could revert to democratic rule because coup leaders were likely to hold on to power.

Charan expressed suspicion that the quota for charter-writers had been predetermined to weed out individuals unacceptable to the coup leaders.

CDA member Komsan Phokong said he too had doubts about the allocation of seats for charter-writers and urged the interim government to revise it.

The panel of charter-writers should represent a broad spectrum of society, he said.

One of the rules says charter-writers from academia must have gained full professorship, he said, which discriminated against a vast number of respected scholars because the universities had a limited pool of law professors.

CDA chairman Noranit Sethabutr said it was futile to redesign the composition of 35-strong body of charter writers as rival sides would push for greater representation.

"The numbers and qualifications of charter-writers are of less importance than new political rules being enshrined in the new constitution," he said.

The drafting will factor in public opinion, and the first draft is to be vetted by society and relevant authorities, he said, denying speculation that the charter would be designed to serve the coup leaders.

If the drafting panel is to be enlarged to accommodate every advocacy group, the rewrite may never be completed, he said.