Court may decide constitutionality of Senate bill
National Legislative Assembly president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said on Wednesday that NLA members could sign a petition to the Constitutional Court to rule whether the Senate bill, if affirmed by the NLA on Thursday, is constitutional.
The NLA is set to revisit the amendment of the Senate bill and the MP election bill written by the joint law review committee, after differences were raised following the NLA’s approval of the two bills in late January.
Pornpetch said he projected that the two amended bills would sail through the NLA again, but pointed out that the constitutionality of the Senate bill would have to be considered.
The point was raised by the Constitution Drafting Commission chief, Meechai Ruchupan, that the proposed selection of senators from organisations would be unconstitutional, as the charter states that senators should be independent individuals, selecting one another from determined groups.
Even if that were the case, Pornpetch said, it would not affect the road map as this consideration could be settled within the timeframe given.