Prapun: No law in place to govern procedure
PRADIT RUANGDIT & MANOP THIP-OSOD
The Election Commission (EC) yesterday ruled out Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's timeframe for his proposed July referendum on rewriting the constitution, saying there is currently no law to govern referendum procedures.
EC member Prapun Naigowit said a referendum bill, which is being drafted by the agency, was unlikely to be ready for submission to the House of Representatives when it convenes for a special session next month.
Mr Prapun said the first draft of the bill would be completed in mid-June at the earliest, and the EC would not get it done in haste so it could be forwarded to the House for a debate.
''Drafting a referendum law is the EC's job. We are required by the constitution to draft this law within a year after the 2007 charter came into force. The EC has to be cautious,'' he said.
Mr Prapun's comment came as Mr Samak, in what was seen as a bid to ease political tension, proposed that a referendum be organised to decide whether or not constitutional amendments should proceed.
Mr Prapun said the referendum law for the current charter took three months to complete. He said the EC is entrusted by the charter to draft a law to accommodate a referendum, which is what it is getting down to doing, and so no referendum law currently exists.
Mr Prapun also suggested the government seek public opinion about the points to be amended while a referendum was being drafted. He warned against any attempt to impose an executive decree or a ministerial directive to justify the planned referendum.
Mr Samak's proposal for a referendum was floated yesterday when a group of People Power party MPs lodged a motion with House Speaker Chai Chidchob seeking a rewrite of the charter.
Mr Chai agreed to put the motion up for deliberation by the House within 15 days, although Mr Samak felt Mr Chai should put the motion on hold pending a referendum. However, Mr Chai is required to put the motion on the House agenda within 15 days.
The motion seeking a charter rewrite was signed by 164 MPs and 30 senators. Two coalition government parters, Chart Thai and Pracharaj, opted out.
Mr Samak said he would ask the cabinet next week to set aside two billion baht to organise the referendum.
However, opposition chief whip Sathit Wongnongtoey slammed Mr Samak for trying to confuse the public, given the 15-day deadline by which Mr Chai must put the motion on the House agenda.
''How could it be possible that the party leader and the party members cannot talk to each other? This means the PPP has not yet reached a conclusion on this and has tossed it over to the public,'' he said.
Mr Sathit called on the People Power MPs to withdraw the motion and urged the government to set up a panel which represents all sectors to study the proposed charter amendments.
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) coordinator Suriyasai Katasila yesterday agreed with the idea of holding a referendum, but said details of charter amendments should also be worked out with input from the public.
He said Mr Samak should mobilise ideas from all sectors about the points to be amended _ a process that would take about three months at least.
He said the PAD would disagree if the government simply asked for a ''yes'' or ''no'' vote on proposed amendments.
The referendum should include more details for voters, such as whether new drafters are needed if people say yes, or whether certain articles or the entire charter should be amended, he said.
Mr Suriyasai said he thought there was a slim chance of a referendum.
''The PAD has been calling for a referendum but certain People Power MPs want a quick charter rewrite. We didn't think a referendum would be possible.
''If it [the government] had been sincere, it would have pushed for it [a referendum] long ago,'' he said.
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