Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned his deputy Prawit Wongsuwon to oversee the selection of members for the National Reform Steering Assembly and new constitution drafting committee while he attends the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Gen Prayut said he has not decided who would sit on the two bodies, but said he is willing to consider candidates nominated by all sides.
Gen Prayut said he would discuss the matter at a joint meeting of the cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) when he returns from his UN trip.
Gen Prayut leaves Thailand tonight to attend the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly in New York and will arrive back in Bangkok on Oct 1.
Under the amended interim charter, the reform steering assembly will have to be established within 30 days to replace the National Reform Committee which was dissolved after it voted to reject the draft charter proposed by the now-defunct charter drafting committee led by Borwornsak Uwanno.
With the draft charter rejected, the NCPO will also appoint a new charter drafting committee comprising 21 members within 30 days.
The steering assembly will comprise 200 members appointed by Prime Minister Prayut. The assembly's role is to advise the prime minister on reforms. "The only selection criteria is that they have the country's best interests at heart," he said.
Gen Prayut revealed about 20-30 candidates have applied to become charter drafters, while only a few candidates from political parties are keen to join the steering assembly. No decision on a steering assembly military quota has been made, he said.
National Legislative Assembly president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said Tuesday the NLA has no legal power to nominate any of its members to sit on the new charter drafting committee.
The power to pick new charter drafters lies with Gen Prayut, as NCPO chief, Mr Pornpetch said.
Meanwhile, members of the Muan Maha Prachachon Foundation, the new name of Suthep Thaugsuban's "defunct" People's Democratic Reform Committee, are free to apply to sit on the steering assembly, foundation secretary-general Akanat Promphan said Tuesday.
He said the foundation supports Gen Prayut's efforts to find capable people to push for reforms.
Also Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam dismissed as "impossible" Chaturon Chaisaeng's suggestion the 20-month roadmap be shortened to only 11 months.
The key Pheu Thai figure also suggested the process to draw up the new constitution's organic laws should only take two months, instead of six under the 6-4-6-4 model suggested by Mr Wissanu.
Mr Wissanu said six organic laws, such as the political parties law and the election law, need to be drawn up and it would be impossible to do this task in only two months.
