A joint parliamentary session erupted into uproar yesterday when the second reading of a draft amendment to Section 291 of the constitution began.
Previously, a joint House-Senate committee vetting the charter amendment bills had agreed to adopt the cabinet-sponsored version seeking to change only Section 291 to set up a Charter Drafting Assembly (CDA).
The bill specifies the timeframe for the charter writing and requires the draft constitution to be put up for a public referendum without any prior scrutiny by parliament.
The Democrats yesterday protested against House speaker Somsak Kiatsuranond for attempting to rush through the second reading.
They suspect he is trying to get the second reading approved by tomorrow, when many Pheu Thai MPs hope to travel to Laos to meet exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is visiting Laos from today until Friday.
Democrat MP Thana Cheerawinit, who sits on a joint parliamentary committee vetting bills to create a CDA, said there was something amiss when panel chairman Samart Kaewmeechai of the Pheu Thai Party submitted a report on charter amendments to the House Speaker on April 6, which is a public holiday.
Democrat MP Warong Dejkitwikrom, who also sits on the panel, said the report was incomplete because motions proposed by several panel members to scrutinise the bills had been omitted from the report.
The Democrats also said that parliament did not allow representatives of the public to explain their versions of charter amendments.
The Democrats proposed the second reading be postponed. Mr Somsak then asked the meeting to vote whether to postpone the second reading. In the House, 337 members voted against the proposal with only 91 voting in support.
The meeting proceeded, with MPs asked to debate a motion by Democrat MP Thepthai Senpong, naming the cabinet's bill as "a constitution rushed through for Thaksin's sake".
Meanwhile, Democrat MP Sathit Pitutecha proposed a motion to label the bill as "the constitution version by the UDD reigning supreme in Thailand".
Mr Somsak opposed the motions, saying they violated House regulations and could not be permitted.
The Democrats said if their motions violated the regulations, Mr Somsak should withdraw the panel's report on charter amendments and postpone the second reading.
Mr Somsak eventually agreed to let the Democrats proceed with their motions. The two-day session ends today.