Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged the public not to allow themselves to be swayed by politicians' opinions on the draft charter and to make their own decision at the referendum vote on Aug 7.
Gen Prayut said on Wednesday he did not think the stance against the draft by Pheu Thai Party politicians and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva will taint voters' decisions.
He was responding to Mr Abhisit's announcement on Wednesday that he personally rejected the draft constitution. However, Mr Abhisit said his opinion was not his party's resolution.
The prime minister also stressed the regime will accept the outcome of the Aug 7 referendum whichever way it goes.
"The people can think and decide for themselves and they don't need to listen to others," Gen Prayut said.
Gen Prayut also rejected Mr Abhisit's suggestion he draw up the new constitution himself if the draft prepared by the Constitution Drafting Committee led by Meechai Ruchupan is shot down in the referendum.
In such a case, a new drafting committee must be set up to do the job, the prime minister said.
Gen Prayut also said he is ready to accept the outcome of the referendum and stick to the roadmap to hold the election next year to restore democracy.
He also asked the public to have sympathy for the Meechai Ruchupan-led CDC and the previous charter drafting committee led by Borwornsak Uwanno.
The two charter drafting panels have come under heavy criticism, even though they had good intentions for the country, Gen Prayut said.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon also brushed aside Mr Abhisit's stance against the draft charter. "I don't care where he stands on the issue," Gen Prawit said.
Speaking at the Democrat Party headquarters in Bangkok, Mr Abhisit said he will not accept the draft constitution.
Mr Abhisit's stance on the issue was in contrast to that of Suthep Thaugsuban, the former Democrat secretary-general and former protest leader of the defunct People's Democrat Reform Committee, who has expressed full support for the draft charter in daily Facebook live broadcasts.
The Democrat leader said his standpoint was not the party's resolution because of the regime's ban on party meetings. However, he said he announced his stance as the party leader and said it was in line with the party's ideology.
Mr Abhisit said he could not accept the new draft constitution because it would not address the country's problems involving national development, political conflicts and corruption.
On national development, the people must have a chance to have their say in the decision-making process to determine the country's future, Mr Abhisit said.
But the draft charter was not designed to support the people's role in the matter and the draft lacks adequate provisions regarding community rights, the environment or legal assistance compared to the previous 2007 charter.
"It is hard for the draft to become a tool to help develop the country and improve people's livelihoods," Mr Abhisit said.
He pointed to the role of the appointed Senate in the draft charter's provisional clauses. He warned that the 250 appointed senators who will serve a five-year term during the transition period to full democracy do not represent the public, and would not only fail to solve political conflicts, but create new ones in Thai politics.
On corruption, the draft charter rescinded current processes to impeach political office-holders and opted to rely mainly on two agencies -- the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders.
The current law does not allow politicians to appeal against rulings of the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders unless they have new evidence.
Their appeals would be considered by a plenary session of the Supreme Court.