The "Five Rivers" to true democracy may run dry for at least two years after the new constitution takes effect to cut short the possible perpetuation of political power.
The idea of banning members of the five bodies from politics for at least two years was proposed at the meeting of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), according to member Jade Donavanik on Wednesday.
The Five Rivers refer to the key elements to realising true democracy portrayed by junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha shortly after the May 22, 2014 coup. They are the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), the National Reform Council (NRC), the CDC and the cabinet.
The two-year ban is already in place for CDC members as stipulated by the interim charter, but not for members of the other four bodies.
The CDC is considering some 20 provisional clauses to the charter, mainly on what would happen to the five bodies originating from the coup after the new charter takes effect to ensure a smooth transition.
Mr Jade said some CDC members proposed the idea of banning NCPO members and he agreed with the notion.
"The five rivers should also take a break for a number of years since they are directly involved with the charter. This is to avoid criticism of the perpetuation of power," he said.
But NLA vice president Peerasak Porjit said in response to the news that he disagreed with it.
"It's impossible. If there's a ban, we should have been told before we took office [as NLA members] in which case I would not have joined it.
"Unlike CDC, NLA members have nothing to do with setting the rules. We're not involved in the process like the CDC."
To make his point, Mr Peerasak, a former elected Uttaradit senator, said if this was true, he needed to know it now so he could resign.
Paiboon Nitatawan, an NRC member, said he didn't know the detail but if the report was true, he disagreed with the idea for the same reasons.
"I think it's not fair. If the ban is really necessary, we need to go all the way —- banning all former MPs and ex-ministers. Are we ready for this?" he asked.
Separately, Lt Gen Navin Damrikarn, another CDC member, said he was afraid an election might need to be delayed due to a lack of readiness in various areas.
He cited as an example certain requirements of the new charter such as the one that calls for an election to be held electronically.
"Are we ready for this both in terms of hardware, software and manpower? If we hire foreigners to do this for us, we need to be concerned about national security. How can we be sure they won't leave a backdoor open," he said.
He insisted, however, this was not an intention to stall the election but he truly felt it would be best to begin the process when everything was ready.
Gen Lertrat Rattanavanich, another CDC member, said the provision clauses would set the terms of constitutional organs.
"The National Anti-Corruption Commission will serve nine years while the next Election Commission will serve six years compared to seven for the current one.
"The NLA will leave when the new House takes office while the NRC ends its duties a day before the next election date.
"The cabinet will leave when the new one enters. As for the NCPO, we haven't discussed it yet.
The provisional clauses will likely be finished on March 6, he said.