Charter amendment debate rescheduling: Jurin
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Parliament should limit the charter amendment debate to one day per week in order to devote time for other legislative agendas, opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanawisit said on Thursday.
“I propose the debate to take place every Tuesday,” he said.
The past eight days saw a slow progress on the second reading of the charter amendment bill as about a hundred opposition MPs reserved their right to speak on the floor for each clause of the draft.
The debate has been suspended until next Tuesday to allow the lower and upper chambers to conduct the respective legislative sessions.
Jurin said the debate should be rescheduled so as not to interfere with the legislative work. He also suggested that parliamentary whips should meet and thrash out differences before the debate on each draft provision.
The opposition is seen as invoking the filibuster tactics to challenge the government’s majority. Thus far the government has conceded to the opposition’s demand for using the senatorial rules for the election of the Constitution Drafting Assembly.
The coalition and opposition have yet to strike a deal on two remaining issues – the rules to pick 22 charter writers from a pool of academics and professionals and whether the charter draft should be vetted by Parliament before the referendum vote.
