Pheu Thai chooses to go ahead

“If the referendum is approved there will be less problems ahead because it’s tantamount to people approving it and no one can oppose it. It’s like finishing a task that will have long-lasting result,” a Pheu Thai source said.

The party was confident more than half of eligible voters would come to vote, the source said.

“[We] will use all the state’s mechanisms at our disposal, be it the Interior Ministry, the military and other state agencies to help cajole the public to vote. MPs will also come up with targets of how many people they get to come out to vote,” said the source. 

However, he added that less than half of the electorate in the South, which is a stronghold of the opposition Democrat Party, were likely to vote. But this would be compensated by more voters and a larger turnout in the Northeast, which has 35 per cent of the total electorate nationwide, while the South had only 15 per cent.

Another Pheu Thai source said red-shirt co-leader Jatuporn Promphan had an understanding with ousted and fugitive former premier and would no longer oppose the referendum. He would play a key role to drum up support for amending the charter.

Deputy Premier Chalerm, meanwhile, acknowledged Thaksin’s influence in enabling Pheu Thai to win the election, adding that he believed Thaksin could help ensure 24 million votes to back the referendum.

On Saturday, Thaksin phoned red shirts gathered at Bonanza in Nakhon Ratchasima, saying it would not be difficult to get 24 million votes.

Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva accused Thaksin of speaking half-truths because changing the charter would help the fugitive ex-PM. He said he had tried to convince his opponents not to amend anything that might benefit Thaksin or alter the judiciary, monarchy institutions and independent agencies – but to no avail.

“I believe that in the end, the government and the prime minister will follow the recommendation of Thaksin but when there are problems they will have to be responsible themselves as Thaksin will be not responsible for what he suggested,” Abhisit said.

The government’s committee in charge of holding a referendum had its first meeting yesterday. Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana said it agreed to have the Interior Ministry be in charge of holding public forums and cooperating with state agencies related to organising the ballot. Meanwhile, the meeting would consult with the Election Commission on legal issues.

Former caretaker Thai Rak Thai Party leader Chaturon Chaisang proposed that parliament move to vote on the third reading of the charter amendment bill, without holding a referendum, then just solve problems later.

He said it did not matter if a referendum was conducted or not, changing the charter would face obstacles. The requirement that at least half of eligible voters come to lodge a ballot to make it valid was different from the referendum which endorsed the 2007 charter; that required only a majority. 

Chaturon said amending the charter article-by-article would take too much time.

Bhum Jai Thai party-list MP Chai Chidchob said yesterday he supported amending certain articles, especially Article 237. It relates to party dissolution, and says election fraud by a party executive can cause a party to be dissolved and all executives to lose their voting rights for five years.