Chart Thai Pattana not to vote on charter change bill: Banharn
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The Chart Thai Pattana Party will not vote on the third reading of the charter amendment bill although it is still supporting the push to rewrite the charter, party chief adviser Banharn Silapa-archa said on Tuesday.
“The final passage of the bill should be put on hold until an amicable solution on how to proceed with charter chage can be found,” he said.
Banharn said his party welcomed the verdict in which the Constitution Court ruled against disbanding parties involved in sponsoring the bill.
But at the same time, he disagreed with the idea of amending each charter provision at a time in lieu of introducing a new charter, arguing this would lead to confusion because the anti-amendment camp might still try to block the charter change by inititiating a new round of judicial review.
He said he wanted to study the full verdict before commenting on whether a referendum should be held to seek the people’s mandate for rewriting the entire charter.
He said he remained optimistic that the government could manage to rectify the flaws in the political system, such as Article 237 of the Constitution prescribing for punishment by party dissolution, before completing its four-year term.
