The writing of a new constitution is reaching a crucial stage. The Constitu-tion Drafting Committee (CDC) met last week in Phetchaburi to "brainstorm" on ideas from its subcommittees on how the new charter should look.

The panel will next review ideas and proposals gathered from the general public before starting work on the charter draft.

It remains unclear if the drafters are prepared to adopt any proposals put forward by members of the public. Some charter writers suggested earlier that most of the content in the final draft would come from the drafters themselves.

There was concern that recommendations gathered from the public by the Constitution Drafting Assembly's (CDA) subcommittees at public hearings might be disregarded.

Such concerns have been echoed by some CDA members.

Chirmsak Pinthong, a former senator and now a CDA member, said on Tuesday that to allay people's fears, he had said he would join protests if the drafters ignored any good proposals people put forward.

Prasong Soonsiri, who heads the drafting committee, added to fears over the possible inclusion of "undemocratic" clauses in a new constitution.

He has voiced support to a proposal that the new charter should leave the option open for an unelected person to become prime minister.

This has raised suspicions of a conspiracy - that the powers-that-be may want such a controversial clause in the draft charter so that it would not be supported in a referendum.

If that scenario arises, under the interim constitution, the Council for National Security is empowered to pick any of the previous constitutions to be promulgated.

Suspicions that the new constitution is likely to be written in a way to serve the powers-that-be are justified, judging from the fact that the selection of the drafters was not totally valid - unlike the drafting of the previous charter, which occurred in a more democratic climate.

The Constitution of 1997 was dubbed the "People's Constitution" because the drafters were mostly elected and the drafting process incorporated proposals gathered at public hearings.

It was far different from the current drafting process.

The latest drafters were appointed as the result of a military coup and the sounding out of public opinion has been limited.

So, it is not surprising that many groups have campaigned against a new charter and lobbied for the entire draft to be rejected in the referendum.

If they are really sincere in creating a better, more efficient constitution than the 1997 statute, the drafters need to avoid clauses that could be controversial and risk being rejected in the referendum.

They should focus on rectifying flaws in the previous charter that allowed political interference and rampant corruption, the major reasons cited by the coup leaders for overthrowing the Thaksin Shinawatra administration.

Kittipong Thavevong

The Nation