The Constitution Drafting Committee will commission the National Institute for Development Administration (Nida) to conduct an opinion poll on what people think about a proposed method of selecting a prime minister, CDC spokesman Norachit Singhaseni said.
Mr Norachit said on Sunday the CDC is preparing the questions for Nida to make the survey.
The CDC is considering new rules on the selection of a prime minister. It has endorsed suggestions that the premier could be chosen from outside the ranks of elected MPs.
The latest proposal is for each political party to submit a list of one to five candidates prior to a general election, with parliament then choosing the prime minister from the list after the election. Each party would have complete freedom to nominate anyone they wanted, including non-MPs.
Mr Norachit said the poll result would reveal what the public think about this proposal.
The CDC's proposal has drawn criticism from several parties. Chaturon Chaisaeng, a key Pheu Thai member, said the idea was simply part of a push for a non-elected prime minister.
Noppadon Pattama, a core Pheu Thai member, said the idea that each party to submit up to five candidates was pointless because voters would know the first person on the list was the party's choice for the prime minister's post.
He criticised the CDC for making a proposal without a thorough study to see if it was based on democratic principles.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called on the CDC to calm the critics by adhering to the principle that a prime minister must be an elected representative. He also urged the CDC to clarify whether it would allow a non-elected premier and on what grounds, and to explain why political parties should be required to disclose their candidates for prime minister in advance.
Apichart Sukhagghanont, the second deputy chairman of the CDC, said political parties should not conclude that the CDC was intentionally clearing the way for an outsider to be appointed prime minister.
He said the CDC was open to all opinions. "We want the people to be politically aware and take part in the drafting of the new constitution," he added.
Mr Apichart, a former member of the Election Commission, said people should not jump to conclusions as the CDC still had many months to copmlete its job.
The issue was still flexible, based on information from the opinion-taking process, he said.
