Key government figures were reluctant to say if they accepted the "proposal" by politicians to delay the election instead of moving ahead with a troubled draft charter.
Talks about a possible election delay to avoid the enforcement of the current version of the draft charter came after Thursday's meeting between military officers of the Reconciliation Centre for Reform, a unit under the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), and political party representatives and key red-shirt members.
Wissanu: Nothing to say right now
Democrat and Pheu Thai representatives claimed the current version of the draft charter would hamper national reconciliation and they called for a constitution that is “fair, international and acceptable to the people”.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said he had nothing to say at the moment about the possible postponement of the election.
"The proposal has been acknowledged. There is nothing more to say about it. If I said yes, the government would be criticised [for willing to stay in power longer than under the roadmap]," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon also refused to comment on the proposed election delay, but noted it was the government's job to heed the public's demands.
"No, the government can't talk [about a delay]. We are following the roadmap," he said.
Gen Prawit said it is the responsibility of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) to come up with a widely acceptable version and it is up to the National Reform Council (NRC) to decide the fate of the draft charter.
However, the prospect of a delayed election is unpopular among the business sector. They will accept a hold-up of a few months, but not a few years since it would tarnish Thailand’s reputation in the international community.
Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said a delay of two or three years will hurt the country's image among the foreign community, which has been complaining about the coup and calling for a quick return to democracy.
According to Mr Isara, he suspects the issue of human trafficking and forced labour, which is being raised against the country, has something to do with the political situation.
"We should create a draft charter that will restore peace and order to society first. It can be changed or improved in the future.
"Is it true that what politicians want is the same thing that the general public wants?" he said, adding that a delay of three or six months might be acceptable.
Somkiat Anurat, vice-chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the business sector understood the political problems quite well and could accept an election delay.
“If the [military] government has a clear reason to illustrate why the election has to be delayed for two to three months, it would be acceptable and we don’t have any problem with that. It would be okay if we have a new constitution and fair regulations that would prevent the country from becoming trapped like in the previous political unrest before having an election,” he said.
Vallop Vitanakorn, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said the FTI accepts the possibility of a delay to the next general election because it still wants to see the NCPO resolve political conflicts in the country before the election is held.
"A delay of two to three months is acceptable but if it takes longer than that, I believe it will definitely do more harm than good to the Thai economy," Mr Vallop said.
CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno said yesterday charter drafters and the NRC have a roadmap to follow and the interim charter needs to be amended if an election is to be delayed for years.
He said the draft charter will be forwarded to the cabinet, the NCPO, the National Legislative Assembly, political parties and the media tomorrow and the CDC wants to hear their feedback.
Mr Borwornsak said the CDC expects to hear in detail issues that may trigger political chaos and what should be done so that it knows if those comments are for self-interest or in the public's best interest.
"There are 300 pieces of fruit in a basket. And if five of them go bad, they should say how they will make the rest go bad and should also make suggestions. Today we aren't discussing the principles. We are working on the charter section by section," he said.
Alongkorn Ponlaboot, secretary to the NRC’s whip, said yesterday he believed a proposed election delay of two or three years would be a bad move because the sooner an elected government is in place, the better.
He said if the NCPO's roadmap is to be extended, it should be extended to facilitate a national referendum on the draft charter, which would put off the election to the middle of next year.
Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai, who took part in Thursday's meeting, pointed out yesterday that a postponement of the election is not the focus of the meetings about the charter and talk about postponement is missing the point.
He said political parties are concerned that the draft charter will cause problems in the future. Political parties want fast elections, but absolutely not at the expense of a good charter, he added.
Meanwhile, politicians continued to slam the draft charter at a seminar hosted by the Thai Journalists Association.
Pheu Thai member Samart Kaewmeechai and Democrat deputy leader Jurin Laksanavisit zeroed in on a proposal allowing political groups to contest elections under both the party list and constituency systems.
Under the draft charter, those contesting an election do not need to belong to a political party — as was necessary under the previous constitution.
Mr Samart said the proposal would take power away from political parties and move it toward groups that are less accountable to the public. He raised concerns about policy formulation by these groups and their stances when it comes to the nomination of a prime minister in the House. Politicians are nothing but bad guys under the draft charter, he said.