House speaker sees new constitution in 2012
A national referendum on a new Constitution is expected in early 2013, House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont said yesterday.
The Constitution drafting process will be independent from the government and the Cabinet, he said.
The process will start next year with the amendment of Article 291 of the current charter to allow the establishment of a Constitution drafting council, he said.
The council will be made up of 99 members, 77 of them elected from 77 provinces while the other 22 will come from a selection process, he said.
Somsak said political problems in Thailand were caused by the undemocratic structure of the laws and the 2007 Constitution. As long as Article 309 - the provisional article keeping the military coup and its aftermath's actions legal - persists, the country cannot be democratic.
Asked whether banned politicians would get amnesty under the new charter, Somsak said that depended on the people's decision.
House dissolution might take place if it were the people's desire, he said.
