A charter amendment bill proposed by civil group iLaw could be placed on parliament's agenda next month if the credentials of its supporters are cleared in the examination process, said parliament president Chuan Leekpai.
Mr Chuan said the names of the signatories have been forwarded to the Interior Ministry to determine if all are eligible voters. After that, the names of the supporters are to be disclosed for public scrutiny and verification. He said people who disagree will have 30 days to contest the authenticity of their signatures.
According to the parliament president, if the names of all 100,732 signatories are verified, the charter amendment draft can be tabled next month when members of parliament reconvene after their month-long break.
Mr Chuan said there is no motion before the House requiring the joint sitting of MPs and senators because a study into six charter bills proposed by political parties recently is not yet complete.
The iLaw-sponsored draft was not among those amendment bills tabled recently. It was left out of the examination process which parliament set up last month. Regardless, MPs and senators postponed their vote on the bills and decided to set up a panel to study the documents. The move was seen by critics as an attempt to delay the charter rewrite process.
Senate speaker Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said senators will consider the committee's study when they cast their vote on the charter amendment bills. He insisted the study result will not influence how the Senate will vote on the bills.
He also dismissed the notion that parliament would reject the charter amendment bills after their first reading to stall the constitution overhaul process. The opposition camp earlier said if MPs did not vote on the drafts next month, it would have to wait until May to submit a new draft.
Udom Rathamarit, a political scientist and former charter writer, said a referendum should be held after parliament approves the drafts, citing Section 256 of the 2017 constitution. He said it would cause inconvenience if two referendums were required before and after the revision.
Pheu Thai deputy leader Anusorn Iamsa-ard called on the government to convene a special session to scrutinise the charter amendment bills, adding his party was not invited by the study panel to gather opinions.
