Drafter of the 1997 charter, Kanin Bunsuwan, explains how dissolving the House of Representatives in the next three months could end up being a lifeline for the Democrat-led coalition government
Asking voters for a new mandate is the only constitutional way of addressing issues that have stemmed from an age-old political divide.
Kanin believes that dissolving the House in the next three months as proposed by a group of academics is sensible, given the prevailing situation.
Previously, Abhisit had offered to dissolve the House in nine months or at the end of the year after the protesters insisted that he do it in 15 days.
"However, if Abhisit brings the dissolution forward, he will still have 90 days to run the country and another 45 to 60 days as head of a caretaker government while preparing for and supervising the new elections.
"As the caretaker, the government will definitely have an advantage over the incumbent opposition Pheu Thai Party [backed by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and the red-shirt protesters].
"If the Democrat-led coalition remains intact, there is a possibility that the government bloc will win as many as 240 House seats in the next polls. In that case, they could return to power and form the next government.
"Some analysts are worried that Thaksin supporters would return to power, but that's only a possibility. I think nothing is certain as far as the election outcome is concerned.
"In addition, there are also worries that an early dissolution will upset the military's succession plan in which General Prayuth Chan-ocha is supposed to take over from Army chief General Anupong Paochinda, who retires in September.
"If the next elections take place in July or August, the Abhisit government may not be able to endorse Prayuth's appointment as the new Army chief.
"This could be a major problem [which is why Abhisit is probably hesitant about early House dissolution]. I think other excuses such as senior bureaucrats' annual reshuffle and the 2010 budget are less significant," he said.
Kanin entered politics in 1979, when he was 32 years old.
"I started out as an MP in Chon Buri from 1979 to 1983, when General Kriengsak Chamanan was PM. In the general elections, two years later I was elected to represent a Bangkok constituency.
"I was also deputy secretary-general of the Democrat Party from 1985 to 1986. In 1992, I was elected from Chon Buri.
"In 1996-97, I was involved in the drafting of the charter, which was probably the best ever enacted in this country's 70-year history of democratic governance," Kanin said once, and in hindsight, he was sorry that the 1997 Constitution was torn up by the September 2006 coup.
"The form of the 1997 Constitution is perfect. It bars non-elected prime ministers and requires MPs to quit if they're named Cabinet members, but it was abused [during Thaksin's years] to such an extent that we don't have an effective checks-and-balances mechanism. This is the number-one failure," he said.
Following the coup d'etat, the 1997 charter was replaced by a new one that was approved in a national referendum in 2007. The new charter had several key changes to put Thaksin's now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party at a disadvantage.
For instance, the one-man-one-vote constituency was dropped in favour of a bigger constituency, while the party-list MP system was significantly altered.
Yet, Thaksin's supporters returned to power and Samak Sundaravej, hand-picked by the fugitive former PM, became prime minister.
After Samak was ousted in a court ruling, Somchai Wongsawat, a relative of Thaksin, took over until his People's Power Party ended up getting disbanded by court. This resulted in a new vote in Parliament, under which Abhisit was chosen as prime minister.
