MPs from two government coalition parties on Monday threatened to petition the Constitutional Court to rule on the Democrat Party-sponsored charter amendment bill, which they say may not be in line with the constitution.
The bill, which seeks to replace the current one-ballot system in the election with two separate ballots, was accepted for deliberation by parliament in the first reading last Thursday.
It was the only one out of 13 bills that received the Senate's support, obtaining 210 votes in favour from senators, in addition to 342 votes from House members.
The bill is intended to amend Section 83 of the constitution to raise the number of constituency MPs from 350 to 400 and to restore the old selection formula for 100 list MPs, instead of the current number of 150 list MPs. It also seeks to revise Section 91 which deals with the calculation method for list MPs.
Kowit Phuangngam, a list MP of the Thai Local Power Party, and Saritpong Kiewkong, a Bhumjaithai Party MP for Krabi, spoke out against the bill during a press conference yesterday.
Mr Kowit said that the bill is not consistent with other charter provisions governing the voting system.
Mr Kowit said that while the bill seeks to amend Section 83, it does not seek changes to Section 86 which deals with the number of MPs in each province and the division of constituencies. "Problems could arise [from failing to amend Section 86]," Mr Kowit said.
In light of this, he said he might have to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the matter before the bill is put up for scrutiny by a vetting committee in the second reading.
Mr Saritpong, meanwhile, said the Democrat-sponsored bill is a bid to take advantage of the charter amendment process to prevent small parties from winning in the next election, a move which he believed won't benefit the public.
He said all political parties are eager to gain an upper hand in redrafting a constitution, but it shouldn't come at the expense of small parties.
Mr Saritpong said the party will also seek the court's ruling on the matter if it is allowed to submit the petition directly to the court, without having to go through the parliament.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam insisted that the bill did not violate other charter provisions.
The charter amendment process can go ahead and if approved by parliament in the third reading, the proposed amendments can be explained in more detail in the organic law on the election, Mr Wissanu said.
Parliament has set up a committee consisting of 30 House members and 15 senators to scrutinise the Democrat-sponsored bill.