Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and his two allies, Chat Thai's Banharn Silapa-archa and Mahachon's Sanan Kachornprasart, called for a revised draft.

They warned that the country could face a bigger crisis after the general election if their words go unheeded.

"All three parties have reached a consensus that many draft provisions are contrary to democratic principles," Abhisit said.

The three party leaders met in the morning to map out their stand before presenting it to PM Surayud Chulanont in the afternoon.

Abhisit said he was concerned about non-elected office holders having a sweeping mandate to override elected officials.

"In one particular provision, constitution drafters have spelled out very detailed state policies for an elected government to implement, leaving no room for any parties to come up with a campaign platform of their own," he said.

Many provisions, such as the one to set up a national crisis panel, allow a hasty intervention to bypass the normal democratic process without having to first obtain a public mandate, he said.

He reminded concerned parties that the country's political troubles would not dissipate if the charter was not completely democratic.

Banharn said charter drafters should not have treated elected politicians with bias and suspicion. "Provisions drafted under a wrong attitude toward politicians will weaken the parties and cause many economic woes because of weak government," he said.

He voiced opposition to provisions designed to turn the Office of the Attorney-General into an independent organisation, saying the idea was impractical and could deprive the government of any legal representation.

Banharn criticised Government House officials for being slow to issue a formal invitation to his party to air views on the draft. He said the invite only arrived at his office yesterday morning, although press reports had mentioned the event many days in advance.

To show his displeasure, he sent deputy Somsak Prissanananthakul to represent Chat Thai at the event.

This led to even more irritation, after Banharn learnt that Somsak was assigned by protocol officials to sit among observers instead of joining other party leaders.

Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalap conceded that formal invitations to 44 parties had gone out quite late, although all parties were notified informally last week.