Local elections, tentatively speculated to be held at the end of the year, may be put off if a referendum on charter amendments is to be conducted around the same time, according to the House committee studying the amendment motions.
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, the committee spokesman, admitted on Wednesday a referendum could present a complication for nationwide local elections to be conducted for the first time since the May 2014 coup.
The government has consistently hinted at a strong possibility of the Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) elections being organised in December.
The local polls also cover elections of members and chairs of the Tambon Administrative Organisations (TAOs), as wells as governors and heads of special administrative zones such as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and Pattaya City.
Mr Chaiwut said the much-anticipated, year-end local elections may have to give way to a referendum on charter changes.
"I believe the referendum provides legitimate grounds for postponing the local elections. In this case, the referendum is more important," the spokesman said.
Critics have accused the government of resorting to stalling tactics by setting up a committee to study the amendment motions for a month when it should be pushing for charter fixes to be implemented. The opposition parties have boycotted the committee. Mr Chaiwut did not rule out scheduling the local elections and the referendum on the same day.
"That's also an option to explore," he said.
Mr Chaiwut explained that technically, it may be feasible for voters to cast two ballots at polling stations, one to elect local administrative organisation members and the other on the referendum.
The spokesman said the study committee met on Wednesday to compare the contents of the six charter amendment motions, one submitted by the government and the rest by the opposition parties.
It was a pity that no one from the opposition took part in the committee. They would have helped review the motions, Mr Chaiwut said. He added the issue of whether to arrange a referendum remains undecided as opinions among lawmakers are split.
One side targets rewriting Section 256 of the constitution first to pave the way for establishing a charter drafting body. Other lawmakers want the entire charter rewritten, which would ultimately result in the current constitution being scrapped.
