Thailand’s ruling junta has proposed that military commanders should automatically be members of an unelected senate — and insist that the arrangement does not constitute another coup d’état.

The generals — who seized power in May 2014 — have put forward a draft constitution, on which the country will vote on Aug. 7.

The State Council for Peace and Order on Tuesday proposed that the new charter should include a provision that would mean that the country’s five top military generals and the police chief would be ex-officio members of the upper house, Thai PBS reports. The rest of the members of a 250-member senate would be appointed by a selection committee.

According to the Bangkok Post, junta member General Prawit Wonsuwan said the military chiefs would even help prevent a future coup.

“MPs can explain to those military commanders about the administration of their parties,” Prawit said. “We want to do this for only a period of five years, for the most effective and transparent transition and for our future.”

[Thai PBS, Bangkok Post]

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Simon Lewis at simon_daniel.lewis@timeasia.com.