Three rounds of referendum are a must for a proposed rewrite of the 2017 constitution, Nikorn Chamnong, secretary to the joint House-Senate House panel on the referendum bill, said.
On Wednesday Mr Nikorn was rejecting a claim by People's Party list MP Parit Wacharasindhu that two referendums would suffice, based on what the latter said was confirmation by Parliament President Wan Muhammad Noor Matha during a recent meeting.
He said that based on a Constitutional Court ruling in March 2021, the government is required to hold three rounds, and no fewer than that, if a wholesale charter rewrite is to be conducted.
Mr Nikorn said the meeting between Mr Wan and Mr Parit, who chairs the House committee on political development, mass communication, and public participation, does nothing to change the court's ruling as the ruling had broader application.
Mr Parit sought the meeting with Mr Wan to discuss the possibility of shortening the referendum process required for a charter rewrite to proceed so the country will have a new constitution penned by a charter-drafting assembly (CDA) before the next general election.
Mr Parit said that to do so in time, the government will have to reduce the number of charter referendums to two instead of three as originally planned.
"But the meeting can't lower the number of referendums because the court ruling applies to parliament," said Mr Nikorn. "The parliament president would face a complaint if he bows to pressure for him to put charter amendment bills on the agenda prematurely."
He reminded the People's Party of what happened during the previous attempt to amend the charter in which its predeccesor, the People's Party, tried to set up the CDA in 2021, but failed.
The military-appointed Senate at that time was concerned about violating the charter and sought a court ruling before the bill's third reading. Mr Nikorn said that this time, the charter amendment bill would most likely encounter blocking efforts as early as its first reading, which would further delay the charter rewrite process.
Speaking after the meeting with Mr Wan, Mr Parit said he would ask the party MPs to resubmit a charter amendment bill, which would pave the way for the government, opposition and Senate whips to reconsider the number of charter referendums.
He said he had new information to present to the whips, which would convince them that two rounds of referendum would be sufficient.
Mr Parit said the 2021 court ruling did not specify how many rounds of a referendum would be required.
It only said that a charter rewrite could not proceed unless a referendum is held first, so it was safe to assume that two rounds would be sufficient, he said.
