Election Commission chairman Apichart Sukhagganond observes a demonstration of the referendum on the draft Constitution at Thammasat University yesterday.

Participants at public hearings in Bangkok on the draft constitution say they oppose Article 299 because it may be used to give amnesty to the Council for National Security.

Surachai Liangbunlertchai, chairman of the public hearing committee, said the first two of 12 public hearings held in Bangkok showed there was strong opposition to the Article.

People were equally divided on other controversial issues, such as a multiple constituency MP election system, reducing the number of MPs, enshrining Buddhism as the state religion and appointing senators, he said.

Surachai said those who attended the hearings were not opposed to having a panel for resolving national crises but they wanted to know the details, such as how a crisis would be defined.

He will forward the results of the public hearings to the Constitution Drafting Committee by May 20, after all 12 are held.

In related news, a legal scholar warned yesterday that society would face the dilemma of inconsistency because of the draft charter's position on coups.

Thapanan Nipithakul, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, said charter drafters were pushing society to face problems of contradictory principles as section 299 legitimised acts and orders of the September 19 coup makers.

"It contradicts section 68 which they copied from the 1997 constitution which gave people the right to resist a coup," Thapanan told the seminar "Thailand: Post Old Ginger 2" at Thammasat University.

Section 65 in the 1997 charter says: "A person shall have the right to resist peacefully any act committed for the acquisition of the power to rule the country by a means which is not in accordance with the modes provided in this Constitution."

The charter drafters retained this in the new charter's section 68, but they added section 299 which legitimises orders and acts committed by the September 19 coup.

"Giving the right to resist a coup but legitimising a coup in the same charter - What does it mean?" the scholar said.

If the draft wins the referendum, society will face the problem of contradictory principles, Thapanan said. "I would ask [charter drafters] if Thailand faces future governments like the Thaksin regime, will any group stage a coup?"

Meanwhile, Democrat Party spokesman Ong-art Klampaiboon warned that an ill-intentioned third party might use conflicts over the constitution to create political turmoil. He warned the government to beware of political groups with ulterior motives who might instigate violence by citing demands for the constitution as a reason to protest. Well-intentioned groups may also be used by ill-intentioned groups, he said.