Cabinet backs charter referendum

Meanwhile, the government coalition parties’ committee on charter amendment agreed to push forward the vote on the third reading, but said campaigns to boost awareness of the need for charter change should be organised first. 

Unlike Yingluck, Bhokin Bhalakula, chairman of the committee, which held its final meeting yesterday, said a referendum could be held after a new charter draft is finished.

Holding a national referendum after a new Charter Drafting Assembly finishes drafting a new charter would be constitutional and in line with the recommendation of the Constitution Court, Bhokin said.

“To avoid opposition to the [new] Constitution, the Cabinet might hold a national referendum according to Article 165 of the Constitution. But it is important to make clear to the public that this is a solution to [national] conflicts with good will and not a cause for anyone to call for responsibility from the Cabinet in case the new charter draft is dropped,” Bhokin said.

The Parliament’s third reading of a bill to change Article 291 of the 2007 Constitution - which spells out the charter amendment process – to allow the establishment of a new Constitution Drafting Assembly has been suspended since June. In that month, the Constitution Court agreed to see whether the charter change attempt, which could involve replacement of the current charter, was unconstitutional. The court later dropped the case.

According to the committee’s five-pronged proposal, it is the mandate of Parliament to vote on the third reading of the charter-amendment bill. In the meantime, while a new charter is being drafted, changing the charter article-by-article can be done in the event that all stakeholders agree that articles such as Article 237 are against the rule of law.

There is no guarantee that a complaint will not be filed with the Constitution Court, or that there won’t be any opposition to charter change. However, Parliament and the government are doing their duty according to the Constitution, the committee insisted.

In a separate development, responding to reports that her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had talked to her about moving ahead with a vote on charter amendment in the third reading, Yingluck said Thaksin had simply offered suggestions. She insisted that although the government has a policy to amend the charter, Parliament would have the final say on the issue.

She said the government has decided to allow public participation in the charter-amendment process by having the ministries of Interior and Justice join forces to hold public hearings and a public referendum before voting on the third reading. This shows that the government heeds His Majesty the King’s advice to create stability and peace in the country, she said.

Appointed Senator Paiboon Nititawan suggested that Parliament withdraw the charter-amendment bill that has passed a second reading, in order to end political conflicts. “To cancel an existing charter in order to opt for a new charter, we need support not only from Parliament, but the public as a whole. If the government thinks that it has a majority and pushes for the passage of the third reading, I believe the charter amendment to alter Article 291 will not take effect,” he said.

Democrat Party Spokesman Chavanont Intarakomalyasut said the government has a hidden agenda in seeking to amend the charter: to whitewash Thaksin and return assets confiscated from him by the courts. Hedismissed the government’s claim that the current charter was undemocratic, pointing out that the government did not dare commit to re-instating the 1997 Constitution, which it claimed was a perfectly democratic constitution.