Senators-elect, who were prevented from assuming office because of the coup, hold a press conference at Parliament House yesterday to denounce sections of the draft charter that call for the appointment – not election – of all future members of the Upper

"The draft is like a piece of cloth with many imperfections and the people may reject it if it is not mended before offered to them," P-Net official Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said. Charter drafters should heed criticism or risk the constitution being rejected, he said.

P-Net said an appointed Senate was unacceptable, arguing there was no guarantee that appointed senators could outshine their elected predecessors.

It said the draft provision to form a national panel of eight concerned parties to tackle an unresolved crisis was "incompatible" with democratic rule.

The panel would include 11 members tasked to bypass the government, the legislation and the judiciary, it said.

P-Net also opposed the draft provisions designed to retain the proportionate voting to allocate 80 House seats. It argued that the party-list system should be completely scrapped instead of cutting the seats down from 100.

It said charter drafters had relied too much on the judiciary to select office holders for independent organisations.

The over-dependence on the judiciary was no guarantee for safeguarding the system of checks and balances and this might harm the impartiality of the judiciary in the long run, it noted.

P-Net chairman Saiyud Kerdpol said the draft had many flaws, prompting concern that it might not pass the referendum.

Meanwhile, a group of 15 senators-elect, who have not been able to assume office because of the coup, filed a petition demanding the Senate remain an elected body.