Efforts to deliberate bills seeking to amend Section 256 of the constitution, which would pave the way for setting up a charter drafting assembly (CDA), are highly unlikely to be successful, says Nikorn Chamnong, director of the Chartthaipattana Party, a partner in the coalition government.
He made the comment on Tuesday before parliament was due to begin deliberating the bills, one proposed by the governing Pheu Thai Party and the other by the main opposition People’s Party, starting on Thursday.
Changing Section 256 would be difficult as it is still unclear if deliberation can begin without holding a referendum to seek permission from the public, as some see the proposed change as equivalent to rescinding the current charter and drafting a new one.
A 2021 ruling by the Constitutional Court requires that such a referendum be held before and after any move to rewrite the constitution, said Mr Nikorn, who was the secretary of a House committee set up to study various referendum and amendment options.
If parliamentarians vote on these bills without holding a referendum first, their actions could be deemed unconstitutional, he said.
“Someone will likely petition the Constitutional Court to rule against this move, while those who vote in support of these bills may end up facing an ethics investigation,” he said.
Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha on Monday insisted he had not violated any laws by putting bills seeking wholesale changes to the constitution on the agenda without a referendum being held first.
Given the potential risk, the Chartthaipattana Party would opt not to vote on the bills, he added. And since these bills were submitted by two political parties rather than the cabinet, the party is not duty-bound to approve them, he added.
The party also cannot agree with certain parts of the bills, which, for instance, pave the way for allowing changes to the first two chapters of the 2017 constitution, which is clearly against the coalition’s agreed principle, Mr Nikorn said.
Chapter 1 contains sections that define Thailand as a single, indivisible kingdom with a democratic regime and the King as the head of state. Chapter 2, meanwhile, outlines royal prerogatives.
Mr Nikorn said the proposal by the People’s Party to have a fully elected CDA is also contentious. He believes the move to deliberate these charter-rewriting bills would prove to be extremely difficult.
If the bills are passed, the charter-rewriting move would still have to wait until the referendum bill is passed into law, which is not expected to happen before July, he said.
Democrat Party list-MP Jurin Laksanawisit expressed a similar opinion about the charter-rewriting bills, saying he believes that if parliament proceeds without conducting a referendum first, its actions would appear unconstitutional.
People’s Party spokesman Parit Wacharasindhu said the party was confident the planned deliberation is in line with the charter. Approving them in principle does not necessarily mean the approved rewrite of the charter would happen immediately. A referendum could still be held later, he said.