AKIPRESS.COM - Thailand’s junta will hold the country’s first vote in more than two years with a referendum Sunday on a new constitution.

The junta and its backers say the new constitution is needed to curb the influence of corruption-prone politicians and move past a decade of political unrest that has overshadowed Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

Politicians, academics and rights groups say the draft is undemocratic, will extend the military’s influence over the country and ultimately lead to more problems.

If the draft is approved it may help the junta consolidate power before elections it has said could be held next year. A rejection could derail that timeline, potentially leaving the junta ruling indefinitely. Either outcome is likely to exacerbate political tensions, Bloomberg reports.

"I’m not concerned," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha told reporters Tuesday. "Whatever the result, we are still in line with the roadmap” where the junta has outlined its plan for elections in late 2017. The timeline for an election has been delayed several times.

If voters approve the charter and an election does go ahead next year it could temporarily boost an economy growing at a slower pace than neighbors like Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Since the junta took over, exports, foreign direct investment and industrial output have fallen, though the stock market is up 17 percent this year, in part on infrastructure spending.