Thailand's National Reform Council (NRC) has rejected the draft of the country's proposed new constitution, thus further delaying the general election which has been expected to be held in the second half of 2016.

The general election is now expected to be held sometime in 2017, according to some reports.

The NRC members rejected the draft constitution by a majority of 135 votes against and 105 for the new constitution, while another seven members abstained.

The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) had been working on the draft constitution, which contains 285 articles, for nine months and eighteen days.

The voting session was chaired by NRC president, Tienchai Kiranan, this morning.

The rejection will mean that the current life of the military junta which launched a coup on May 22, last year will be prolonged.

Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is also the head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), will appoint another 21 new members of the CDC within 30 days and they will rewrite the draft constitution within six months.

It will then go directly to a referendum process.

The rejected draft constitution will allow 450 to 470 Lower House representatives into Parliament, 300 elected and 150 to 170 party-listed.

It also proposed 200 senators, 77 elected from each province and 123 appointed by the Senators Selection Committee headed by the president of the Constitutional Court.

The draft constitution has been rejected by a number of groups even before it was put to vote.

Earlier this week, the former ruling Pheu Thai Party issued a statement opposing the draft and called on the NRC members to vote against it, describing the draft as not only undemocratic but also designed to maintain the junta's power by creating a military regime to control an elected government.

The major opposition Democrat party also does not support the constitutional draft.

The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has regarded the draft constitution as lacking in democratic justification in its inception and drafting process.

It said one of the major drawbacks in the draft constitution was its attempt to compromise the power of the people with the provisions in the draft constitution allowing a non-elected member of parliament to become prime minister as well as a higher number of Senators-select than Senators-elect.

The lawyer group has proposed that the 1997 Constitution be restored and enforced since its content is more democratic, and its drafting was made with widespread and vibrant participation of the people, though it was revoked after the coup on Sept 19, 2006.

- Bernama