Three new bills seeking to amend some sections of the 2007 constitution, backed by MPs of Pheu Thai and other coalition parties and some appointed senators, have been submitted to Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont.
Leading the legislators to submit the charter amendment bills were Direk Thuengfang, a Nonthaburi senator, and Udomdej Rattanasathien, a Pheu Thai MP for Nonthaburi.
The first bill seeks to amend Sections 68 and 237 so that the leader and executive committee members of a political party would not be stripped of their election rights and the party would not be dissolved in the event a party candidate is found guilty of electoral fraud.
The second bill seeks to amend Section 190 to do away with the requirement that all agreements with other countries must be approved by parliament.
The third bill is designed to amend Sections 111, 112, 115, 117, 118, 120 and 241 and annul Sections 113 and 114. These sections concern the appointment and selection of senators and their terms in parliament. Under the bill, all 200 senators would be elected and they would be free to stand for re-election.
Mr Somsak said it would take about one week to examine and verify the three bills before putting them on the House agenda.
He denied the charter amendment process was being pushed on the instructions of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The MPs and senators had the right under the constitution to submit amendment bills, he said.
Mr Somsak said he did not believe this would lead to fresh political conflict.