Prinya Thevanarumitkul, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, said the draft charter failed to create a real system of checks and balances among the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

"The current draft of the constitution lets the judicial system overrule the executive and the legislative branches," he said.

"Judicial activism would bring judges into politics and eventually this would des-troy the creditability of the whole justice system."

Prinya said the Constitution Drafting Assembly should reject the draft rather than present it to people in a referendum unless the three branches of government are made independent.

Sujit Boonbongkarn, a member of the National Legislative Assembly, said the drafters had tried to weaken the powers of governments and their leaders by changing the electoral system in order to prevent "another Thaksin Shinawatra".

But he thought the changes would lead to coalition governments, which would be unstable.

He also opposed Prime Minister Surayud Chula-nont's idea to move up the date of the next general election, saying a rush would cause problems.

Nanthawat Promanant, a law lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said a good solution to political problems would be for the drafters to clarify measures to ensure clean elections and prevent vote buying.