Decision on a charter referendum will be made when time is right, Prayut says

He said he would make the decision as the leader of the National Council for Peace and Order, as empowered by the post-coup interim charter, although that does not require a public vote on the charter written by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC).

“I will decide if it should be done or not. I will consider this matter along with other people. Today, it is not yet time, but people are heavily bickering already,” Prayut said.

“It seems everybody does not want to change. They want things to remain the same. Are we going to be able to reform then?” he said, adding that he would not allow the reform efforts to be wasted.

The prime minister warned that heavy bickering and opposition to the draft charter could cause it to be rejected by relevant bodies. This in turn would restart the entire process of constitution drafting, as prescribed in the provisional charter.

When asked if that would be a waste, the PM responded: “Waste of time, waste of brains.”

Chaturon Chaisang, a senior politician from the Pheu Thai Party, voiced his support for holding a national referendum on the new constitution.

He said a decision on whether to hold a referendum should be made as early as possible in order to allow sufficient time for preparation. Also, the constitution drafters would find it necessary to heed the opinions of the public. Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said that in principle a new constitution was important enough to warrant the holding of a referendum. 

He said it would cost a little over Bt3 billion to conduct, about the same amount as a general election.

Meanwhile, many National Reform Council (NRC) members plan to oppose certain provisions in the draft constitution when the council meets next month to discuss the draft completed by the CDC, Direk Theungfang, deputy chairman of the NRC’s committee on political reform, said.

Direk, who is a former senator, said key issues that NRC members disagree with were a provision that allows a non-MP to become prime minister, the nomination of senators instead via direct elections, and a new electoral system based on one used in Germany.

The NRC is scheduled to meet from April 20-26 so its members can express their views on the first charter draft.

In a related development, a group calling itself “Thailand’s Free People 58” yesterday submitted a petition to CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn calling on the committee to review certain clauses they describe as undemocratic. These include the provisions allowing for a non-MP prime minister and unelected senators.