National Security Council secretary-general Taweep Netniyom on Monday blamed the insurgency movement for the rejection of the draft constitution by residents of the three southernmost provinces in the referendum.
Gen Taweep said the votes against the draft charter on Sunday’s referendum by the majority in Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces did not mean they were against soldiers. Instead it was because they were “intimidated and pressured by the insurgency group, as well as hybrid threats”.
The unofficial results from the Election Commission (EC) at 94% vote count showed 11 of all 14 southern provinces overwhelmingly endorsed the charter, with the approval rates from 70% (Satun) to 90% (Chumphon). Similar results were shown for the additional question.
But in the three provinces, the approval rates for the draft were 41% (Yala), 38% (Narathiwat) and 35% (Pattani). The same trend was seen for the additional question.
Pattani saw the greatest disparity between the number of supporters and opponents of the draft among the three provinces, with 160,541 votes being cast against the charter, or two times the "yes" votes.
All in all, 2.6 million people in the 14 southern provinces supported the draft and some 800,000 were against it. For the extra question on prime minister selection, 2.4 million voted in favour as opposed to 830,000 who rejected it.