The Constitutional Court will consider Wednesday whether to accept petitions asking it to rule on the validity of the organic bill on the election of MPs and also a Section 44 order to amend the law on political parties.
Chaowana Traimas, secretary-general of the Constitutional Court's Office, said Monday the president of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) had asked the court to dispose of the election of MPs bill quickly so the general elections could be held within the time frame of February next year.
Mr Chaowana said that the court has realised the importance of the bill and will gather opinions from agencies concerned taking the time frame into account.
Last Tuesday, NLA president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai submitted the organic bill to the court for a validity check after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha sent it back to the assembly.
Along with the bill was a petition signed by 27 lawmakers questioning whether some aspects of the bill go against the charter.
They raised concerns about a clause that allows election staff or others to help disabled people cast their vote, and another was about prohibiting people, who fail to vote in national elections without showing proper reason, from being appointed as political office-holders.
The bill was approved earlier by the NLA, which felt it did not need vetting by the charter court.
It was then forwarded to the prime minister, who was supposed to present it to the King for royal endorsement. However, the NLA on March 28 made an about-turn, agreeing for it to be checked by the Constitutional Court first.
The move has raised concern that the elections will be pushed back beyond February.
Regarding the Section 44 order, the Office of the Ombudsman, which received complaints from the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties, said it is likely to violate the charter and on March 30 decided to seek the court's opinion on its validity.
Gen Prayut exercised the powerful Section 44 in his capacity as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order and issued Order No 53/2017 on Dec 22 of last year to amend the organic law on parties.
However, parties, particularly the Pheu Thai and Democrats, criticised the step, alleging that it affects rights guaranteed by the constitution.
Under the order, party members are required to submit letters confirming their membership and pay party fees within 30 days of April 1 or lose their status.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said it is inconvenient for members living upcountry and the process can be done smoothly at party headquarters.
