Thais will vote on the new constitution on July 31, but elections for a new parliament will take place in 2017 even if the draft charter is rejected in the referendum, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said on Thursday.
Gen Prawit said a general election definitely will be held next year, although he did not set a date.
"Starting from July next year, once organic and supplementary laws are enacted, there will be an election that same month. It will not happen later than December 2017 and may be sooner," he said.
"After the election, all sides must accept the outcome. All concerned must respect the rule of law. And the constitution is the rule for the election."
Which constitution that may be, however, remains uncertain. Gen Prawit said the referendum on the new charter, feedback on which is now being taken, will occur July 31. The Election Commission will confirm that date and set conditions for the ballot, he noted.
But should the public vote the proposed constitution down, any one of the previous charters could be chosen.
On Thursday, Gen Prawit was circumspect on which, if any, charter Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha might pick.
"Don't worry. Gen Prayut already has a plan to cope with any scenario," he said.
Right now, the focus should be on getting the draft constitution right, which requires critics to submit their opinions and suggestions to the Constitution Drafting Committee, he said.
"It is now, during the period of taking opinions, people should send their feedback to the CDC so it can consider making alterations. It would be useless if (critics) only talk and don't send their opinions," Gen Prawit said.
Gen Prawit noted the Defence Ministry, which he also heads, and the armed forces have already sent their suggestions to the CDC.
He said he believes CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan is open to ideas from anyone but he was less enthusiastic about earlier comments by Deputy Premier Wissanu Krea-ngam that the public could express any opinion on the draft, even advocating it be killed.
The defence minister said he believes Mr Wissanu was suggesting that people should feel comfortable pointing out flaws in the document rather than saying it was all right to lobby for its rejection.
For his part, Gen Prawit said he believes the draft constitution is democratic, although its provisional clauses are "based on a 20-year national strategy to enable the country to move forward. I think the people in general want the nation to prosper."
He asked rhetorically whether it would be of any use to have a constitution that was "100% democratic" if the streets were filled with protesters".
The referendum is expected to cost 3.4 billion baht, leading some to ask who would take responsibility if the charter fails. Gen Prawit said it was a moot question, as the interim constitution requires the referendum.
Mr Wissanu, meanwhile, said the only way to reduce the cost of the ballot was to print and distribute fewer copies of the proposed constitution, which is to be sent to 80% of eligible voters.
"We have to accept the fact that we have to use money to become democratic and the referendum is worthy of the expense," he said. "But I am not sure whether it would be worthwhile to print the draft constitution for distribution. I am not sure whether the people would read it or to what extent they would understand it. But, in any case, the referendum must be held anyway."
