She said drafters should not be in charge of the referendum. Sodsri is a CDA member and on its core drafting committee.

She said competition for referendum funding might be behind the move while others see it as an attempt to manipulate the outcome.

Sodsri threatened to resign from the CDA and the drafting committee if the motion is passed at the assembly's March 12 session.

"It will be chaotic and the assembly must be responsible. It may be about money," she said during a visit to Phetchaburi yesterday. The government has earmarked Bt1.6 billion for the referendum.

She said the Election Commission's running of elections was governed by law and it could be punished for irregularities whereas the assembly was not.

CDA member Pairoj Phromsarn moved the referendum motion asserting the interim constitution stipulated it could decide who was responsible for the plebiscite.

"It will be done transparently and we'll use the same method as that in selecting village headmen," he said, referring to communal open voting by show of hands.

"How will Bangkok's voters assemble [to vote this way]?" Sodsri asked. "I need not say whether this is appropriate or not, and people are already questioning the whole CDA because it is appointed by the military."

In a related development, CDC chairman Prasong Soonsiri attacked a campaign encouraging rejection of the charter at the referendum as "premature" and driven by "angst".

He said on day one of a six-day meeting to ratify some clauses of the charter that the campaign was "unreasonable".

"They haven't even seen the draft but they have already rejected it," Prasong said.

The "Thai Say No" campaign launched last week aims to convince voters the drafting process is illegitimate because it is sponsored and controlled by the Council for National Security. The CNS annulled the 1997 Constitution following the September coup.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

Sathian Wiriyapanpongsa

The Nation