Somsak calls for all sides to discuss changes to charter
Parliament president Somsak Kiatsuranont plans to call a meeting of the government, the opposition and Senate whips to discuss which Articles of the Constitution - bar those related to the monarchy - need to be changed.
Wattana Sengpairoh, a spokesperson for Somsak, made this announcement yesterday.
He said the president hoped the people concerned would be able to meet before the next session of parliament opens on August 1.
Somsak’s deputy, Charoen Jankomol, said prior to a meeting with 416 MPs and senators who voted in support of the charter amendment, that he would ask the Constitution Court to drop its case against them. He said a complaint filed against them by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leader Chamlong Srimuang, was the same in essence as the case the court ruled on and dis?missed last Friday.
He said in his opinion, the court’s ruling was based on personal opinions with no binding effect. Therefore, the Parliament should be able to proceed with a third reading of the amendment bill. However, he wanted to ask parliamentarians first whether there should be a national referendum before vote in the third reading.
Meanwhile, opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanawisit said it would boycott the vote if the government pushed on with a third reading of the charter amendment bill as it could be against the law.
Jurin said he personally wanted the government to stop amending the charter – the complete rewrite or article-by-article – as it could cause a new round of conflict. He also disagreed with changing Article 68 to curb the power of the Constitution Court and Article 309, which was a provision protecting the 2006 coupmakers.
