The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has completed the selection of 250 candidates to serve on the National Reform Council (NRC), but their names will not be made public until they are royally endorsed.
Speaking after chairing an NCPO meeting to select the reform body, Prime Minister and NCPO chief Prayut Chan-o-cha said the list of 250 nominees is pending examination by the Secretariat of the Cabinet before being submitted for royal approval on Oct 2.
Under the interim charter, the NRC is tasked with working out reform blueprints in accordance with the NCPO's reform roadmap for 11 key fields: Law and justice; local administration; national administration; politics; education; the economy; energy; public health and the environment; the mass media; social affairs; and a special category to deal with "other issues".
The body is also obliged by the charter to give advice or recommendations to the constitution drafting committee and to deliberate and approve the draft constitution proposed by the charter drafters.
The selection of the NRC members comes amid growing criticism about a lack of transparency and cronyism in the candidate screening process, especially at the provincial level. Some critics have urged the NCPO to release the lists of NRC candidates to the public.
Eleven screening committees were set up to choose 50 candidates from 11 fields, or a total of 550, for the NCPO to shortlist to 173. Provincial selection panels were formed to pick five NRC candidates in each province, or a total of 335 candidates from the 77 provinces, for the NCPO to narrow them down to one NRC member for each province.
Defending the process, Gen Prayut reiterated on Friday the selection of the 250 NRC members was not fixed or rigged. He said the screening committees were given a free hand to work and were instructed to choose candidates from diverse backgrounds.
"I know about 10% of the selected members but I don't know them personally," he said, adding that choosing 250 people out of 7,000 candidates was not easy.
He said the rest of the shortlisted candidates will not go to waste. They will be invited to participate in national reforms by working with the Office of the Defence Permanent Secretary. He said the office has been assigned to hold public forums to gather opinions and suggestions about reforms and forward them to the NRC.
Speaking during his weekly national broadcast, Gen Prayut again defended the selection of the NRC, saying it "was not easy" to come up with the list.
He said the NCPO carefully went over the details of the shortlisted candidates to find those who were right for the job.
"I don't see why we would need to predetermine candidates for the job. If there were any kind of candidates being lined up for the post, it would be about their qualifications and knowledge," he said.
Responding to complaints about transparency, he said the NRC members are not exempt from investigation if they face complaints.
He also urged critics to show some respect for the screening committees. "The list will be announced in due course and you can lodge complaints if there appears to be a lack of transparency," he said.
Gen Prayut said the 250 members will be divided into 11 groups in accordance with the 11 fields of reform. They are expected to coordinate with each other when they begin work. He said their reform proposals will go before the entire council for debate.