House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha on Friday backed a recommendation made by the charter referendum study panel that three referenda should be held if the entire charter is to be amended.
According to a panel chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, three referenda would be the requisite for amending the entire charter, and the cabinet will be asked to endorse this position next week.
Mr Wan Noor said holding three referenda is deemed the best course of action to avoid the charter amendment bid later being nullified by the Constitutional Court.
"There is a court ruling on the referendum issue. If we don't abide by it, it will be a waste of time. The public wants charter amendments and it's the policy of the government and various parties to have them. We must do it right," he said.
He was responding to criticism that the three referenda, costing 3 billion baht each to organise, would be overly costly, time-consuming and obstructive.
Asked if charter amendment proposals sponsored by the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the main opposition Move Forward Party could be put on the House agenda, Mr Wan Noor said it would depend on the proposal.
Based on the court's ruling, amending critical areas of the charter or changing it entirety requires a prior, favourable referendum vote.
"So, I can't say beforehand if it will be put on the agenda because I'll have the charter amendment proposal studied first," he said.
On Wednesday the court rejected a petition by parliament seeking a ruling on whether the charter can be changed before a referendum takes place, and how many should be held in total.
The petition also asked the court to rule on whether parliament can put a charter amendment motion on its agenda for deliberation.
The judges said they had already ruled on the matter and parliament president is authorised to put the matter on the agenda.
The court's earlier ruling said that a charter rewrite could not proceed unless a referendum was held first. However, the ruling did not spell out how many referenda would be needed.