Doomsayers are concerned that the new constitution might be rejected by the August 19 referendum, further inflaming the political turmoil.

They have overlooked one issue at hand, however, that the charter draft may suffer a miscarriage by the 100-member Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) this week.

Before voters can have any say on charting their political future, the elite must get their act together to design the roadmap for the populace to form their decision and vote on.

If straw polls are any indication, the outcome of the referendum is the least of their worries. The most worrying problem is the strong possibility of a "stillborn" draft or a hasty charter that might pose more problems than it solves.

The prevailing mood indicates extreme despair over the fractious state of politics and the people want a general election to take place soon in order to restore normalcy again.

Workers and villagers see themselves as true victims of the power struggle and they are willing to embrace the new charter to get out of the political predicament and sluggish economy.

Even though some die-hard supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra are acting like a menace to defeat the draft, they constitute a very small minority. Political veterans of all stripes prefer an imperfect draft to the political system dictated by the junta.

The fate of the new constitution lies with hardcore anti-Thaksin campaigners who have a strong voice in the CDA.

With less than six days to complete the vetting process, the CDA has yet to debate about 100 of the 299 draft provisions.

Time is running out fast but many CDA members seen as close to the anti-Thaksin campaigners appear to be stalling debate until they can have their way in designing new political rules.

It's no surprise that the anti-Thaksin clique would want to shut the door

permanently on a comeback by the ousted PM though it is a gross travesty of justice to design the country's highest law just to spite one man.

If exacting revenge is the goal, then it might be wiser and easier to revoke citizenship than taking a roundabout route to promulgate lopsided provisions.

The critical factor leading to the rewrite of the charter is the collapse of the system of checks and balances. And the CDA has not even begun the debate on independent organisations, seen as the key to upholding the balance of power.

The CDA should seriously anticipate bearing the brunt of the blame if it fails to meet the deadline for vetting the draft.

With the clock ticking, it will have to choose quickly between two options - either approve the draft regardless how hasty the decision is or abort it as stillborn.

In case of offering a hasty draft to voters, there is still a good chance for a successful referendum on grounds that flawed provisions can be amended by the elected government.

Should the CDA fail to come up with a draft, the junta will step in to promulgate a new charter of its choice.

For certain military cliques wanting to grab power and the anti-Thaksin campaigners, the junta's version of democratic rule might be welcomed to flush out remnants of the Thaksin regime.

But the Thai political system would face irreparable damage should the junta be allowed to intervene to set new electoral rules on top of its seizure of power.

Without a free and fair election, the country might be stuck forever with unresolved animosity.

 Avudh Panananda

 The Nation