Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai dismissed a Pheu Thai MP's warning that disagreements over a charter referendum could result in a House dissolution as a matter of personal opinion.
Mr Phumtham said on Monday that differences of opinion over the charter referendum between the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the coalition partner Bhumjaithai Party would not strain their relations.
He was responding to Pheu Thai list-MP Cherdchai Tantisirin's remark that a House dissolution may be unavoidable if the coalition parties disagreed on the size of the majority required for a charter referendum.
Mr Phumtham said Dr Cherdchai is entitled to voice his opinions while stressing that individual opinions do not sway coalition parties. He insisted disagreements will be worked out in parliament.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the only person authorised to dissolve the House of Representatives, and she has never expressed any intention to do so, said Mr Phumtham. The difference in opinion between the House and the Senate over the size of the majority needed to pass a referendum on amending the charter is blamed for delaying the referendum bill and the charter-rewriting process.
The House maintained that a simple majority was sufficient for it to pass, while the Senate insisted on two conditions: that over 50% of voters must participate in the referendum and that the majority of those who take part must support it.
A joint MP-Senate committee was established to resolve disagreements between the two chambers over whether the Senate's favoured double majority requirement should stand.
The Senate recently won in a joint panel vote to retain the double majority rule needed to pass a charter amendment referendum, with the Bhumjaithai Party having expressed its intention to vouch for the double-majority requirement.
Meanwhile, People's Party (PP) leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut distanced the main opposition party from the matter, saying the PP would continue pushing for charter amendments and two rounds of charter referendums.
The PP said that two rounds of a referendum would be sufficient for the charter rewrite, citing the 2021 Constitutional Court ruling. The government, however, insisted on three rounds of referendum for the proposed rewrite.
Mr Natthaphong also said the party is always ready for the elections if and when the House is dissolved.