The charter referendum study panel will seek a clarification from the Election Commission (EC) on rules regarding any limitations on additional questions to be put to voters.
Yutthaporn Issarachai, a member of the sub-panel on the referendum, said the EC would be consulted after it was revealed that the 2017 constitution drafted by the military regime does not allow extra questions.
In the last referendum in August 2016, 61.4% of voters endorsed the junta-drafted charter after a campaign in which debate on the merits was effectively banned.
Mr Yutthaporn noted that the 2016 vote was held under an interim constitution, which allowed the referendum to include an extra question. However, the current charter does not provide the same flexibility.
At the last referendum, although the draft charter stipulated that only MPs were entitled to vote for a prime minister, an additional question was posed asking whether the military-picked Senate should be eligible to vote for a prime minister as well.
Mr Yutthaporn’s comments came after the Move Forward Party (MFP) suggested that two extra questions apart from the main question be asked at the charter referendum.
According to Move Forward, voters should also be asked if members of the charter rewriting body should be wholly elected and if chapters one and two should be improved.
Chapter one contains sections defining Thailand as a single, indivisible kingdom with a democratic regime with the King as the head of state, while chapter two pertains to royal prerogatives.
Mr Yutthaporn said that while the government has reached a consensus that chapters one and two will not be revised, the issue of whether members of the proposed charter drafting assembly will be wholly or partially elected has to be further discussed.
“And we haven’t reached a conclusion on the main referendum question either. We’ll present the study, which includes the proposed amendment to the referendum law, to cabinet in January or February,” he said.
He said it was likely the referendum law would be amended first following concerns about its “double majority” requirements, where over 50% of eligible citizens must have voted in the referendum and that a majority of those who cast votes must approve it.
Former parliament president Pokin Polakul said that Section 256 of the charter must also be amended because it poses a major hurdle to rewriting the constitution.
The section says the support of at least one-third of the Senate, or 84 senators, and the support of at least 20% of the opposition MPs will be required for a charter rewrite.
It also requires a referendum to be held if the amendments involve chapters one, two, 15, qualifications of the holders of political office or power, and the role of courts or public independent agencies.
“We must remove the thorn first. We may not go anywhere if we don’t amend Section 256. If the section is revised, the rest will be possible,” he said.
Chanin Rungthanakiat, the prime minister’s deputy secretary-general, said the government is not trying to stall the charter rewrite process as alleged by critics, but the matter is divisive, and input must be gathered from all stakeholders.