If there is a low turnout in the referendum on the draft charter, its chances of being passed will get a massive boost, an Election Commission (EC) member and political analysts say.
EC member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said Thursday that a lack of the minimum voter threshold will also prevent the 3-billion-baht budget set aside to organise the referendum going to waste.
The cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) have approved seven amendments to the 2014 interim charter.
One of the proposed changes is to pave the way for a referendum on the draft charter to be held if the document is endorsed by the National Reform Council (NRC).
Under the proposed amendment, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the NRC may each propose additional questions in the referendum to ask voters at the same time. The questions will be approved by the cabinet.
However, the proposed change does not set out a requirement for a minimum voter turnout in the referendum. This means only a simple majority will suffice to justify the endorsement.
Regarding additional questions to be proposed by the NLA and the NRC at the referendum, Mr Somchai said voters will be asked about minor issues of the draft charter rather than major issues such as the extension of the government's tenure.
EC chairman Supachai Somcharoen said on Wednesday the poll agency plans to hold the draft charter referendum on Jan 10, 2016.
Preparations for the lead-up to the referendum will begin on Sept 6, if the NRC approves the draft charter.
The NRC was supposed to vote on the Charter Drafting Committee's (CDC) final version of the draft charter on Aug 6, but it was decided at a meeting on Tuesday between the NCPO and the cabinet to postpone the vote for another month while amendments are being made to the draft.
CDC member Charas Suwannamala said the proposed amendment to the interim charter only calls for a majority of eligible voters to endorse the draft charter.
This is different from the referendum on the previous 2007 constitution, where a turnout of more than half of eligible voters was a preliminary requirement for a referendum.
Mr Charas, a former dean of Chulalongkorn University's political science faculty, said the proposed majority requirement is intended to address the low voter turnout concern and to discourage campaigns for voter apathy or for a boycott.
Wanwichit Boonprong, a political scientist from Rangsit University, said the lack of a minimum voter requirement will help efforts by the NCPO and the CDC to push through the draft charter, and to prevent opponents from persuading voters to boycott the vote.
A source at the Bureau of Registration Administration under the Interior Ministry revealed that a total of 49,698,934 eligible voters nationwide were recorded in April this year.
It would be more difficult to convince people to come out and vote against it than to ask them to not vote and simply stay at home, the source said.
In the country's first-ever constitutional referendum on the 2007 draft charter held on Aug 19, 2007, there was a turnout of 25 million voters out of 45.89 million eligible voters.
Just over 14 million voters, or 57.81% of the voter turnout endorsed the document, whereas 10.41 million voters, or 42.19 %, rejected it.
If a minimum 50% voter turnout is required for the referendum on the current draft charter, a turnout of at least 24,849,467 voters will be needed to prevent a failed referendum, a source said.
The lack of a minimum voter requirement would also present the draft charter's opponents with a tough task to campaign against it, the source added.
Meanwhile, NLA chairman Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said the NLA has received the proposed amendments to the interim constitution from the cabinet and set June 18 to deliberate it in three straight readings.
Mr Pornpetch said Section 46 of the interim constitution requires the NLA to finish deliberations on the draft by June 25.
Representatives from the cabinet and the NCPO will be invited to attend the meeting.
The meeting may be held in camera while considering certain proposed amendments, he said.
The NLA chairman said a decision to accept or reject the proposed amendments must be made with a vote of at least 110 out of the 220 NLA members.
A proposed amendment which receives fewer than 110 votes will be dropped.
