Pheu Thai Party deputy leader Chousak Sirinil on Thursday proposed that the government, opposition, and Senate whips jointly seek a Constitutional Court ruling on the number of referendums required for a charter rewrite.
His proposal came ahead of the parliament's scheduled first reading of more than a dozen charter amendment bills due to take place on Feb 13-14. The government, opposition, and Senate whips met on Thursday to prepare for the debate.
While most of these bills involve section-by-section changes, two of them, sponsored by the ruling party and the main opposition People's Party (PP), seek wholesale charter changes that require a referendum.
The central question is how many referendums must be held for the sweeping charter amendments to be legally recognised by law. The issue needs to be decided by the Constitutional Court.
Mr Chousak said that a Constitutional Court ruling can be sought under Section 210 of the charter, and a petition seeking judicial review can be lodged by either MPs or senators.
It does not matter whether the petition should be lodged before or after the scheduled meeting as the charter amendment bills have been put on the parliament agenda by its president, Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, he said.
The bills seeking wholesale changes require a referendum due to a 2021 ruling by the Constitutional Court involving the charter rewrite process.
The court said the people with the power to establish the constitution must first decide in a referendum whether or not they want a new charter.
Following the ruling, a bill seeking to set up a charter drafting assembly (CDA) was rejected by parliament in its third and final reading as it did not garner enough support from the House and the Senate.
However, the 2021 ruling does not specify how many rounds of referendum are required. Some say two rounds are adequate, while others prefer three rounds to be safe.
The two referendum calls involve asking people if they want the charter amended. If the first referendum is approved, a second would follow to let people decide whether to give the new version the green light.
With the three-referendum suggestion, the first round would ask voters if they agree with a charter rewrite; a second on whether Section 256 of the constitution, which makes way for the setting up of a CDA, needs amending; and a third round on whether voters’ support for a new charter should be adopted.
Mr Chousak insisted a ruling from the Constitutional Court will end the uncertainty.
It will also allay concerns harboured by MPs and senators who may opt out of charter amendment business for fear of violating the law if doubts over the referendum persist.
Mr Chousak, however, said that it is too early to say which draft, between the party's version and the PP-sponsored one, will be adopted as the main draft.