The head of a national strategy drafting committee on security has insisted the panel is not meant to support members of the regime, but is for the sake of the country's future.
Gen Worapong Sanga-nate, head of the drafting panel, said the panel has four months -- ending in January next year -- to complete its strategy on national security.
The national security strategy will then be forwarded to the the National Economics and Social Development Board for consideration and public opinions will also be sought.
The strategy will then be submitted to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for approval. The strategy must be enacted into law by August next year, Gen Worapong said.
The members of the six drafting panels were made public after the announcement of the Prime Minister's Office concerning the establishment of the committees was published in the Royal Gazette on Sept 28.
The six drafting panels, which consist of 70 members in total, involve national security, building competitiveness, development and potential building of human resources, creating opportunity and social equality, creating an environmentally friendly quality of life, and ensuring a balance in state sector management.
Each panel will map out the national strategy by conducting hearings from various parties. They need to complete their strategy plans within 120 days, Mr Wissanu said.
The national strategy plan will then be tabled to the cabinet meeting and proposed to the NLA for approval. It also requires royal endorsement. It is likely the plan will come into force in the middle of next year, which is when the various parties are obliged to proceed with it.
Each panel has a five-year tenure, during which they need to follow up, oversee and advise agencies proceeding with the plan.
Asked if the panel's task is designed to accommodate Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Gen Worapong said that the panel is not meant to support any particular individual, but is meant to look out for the country's future over the next 20 years.
Ensuring political stability and a fair and fraud-free election is part of national security, he added.
