CDC tells PM to hold referendum on entire charter
Play
THE Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has proposed to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha that a national referendum be held on the new charter, a crucial step that it said should not affect the country's roadmap to democracy.
The CDC’s referendum call was supported by the National Reform Council, whose chief whip, Alongkorn Ponlaboot, |said voters should be allowed |to decide whether they ap-|prove or reject the entire new charter.
CDC spokesman General Lertrat Rattanawanich said there were five reasons to back the CDC proposal on holding a referendum.
First, legally speaking, the constitution is the country’s highest law, which will affect the rights and freedom of all Thai people, so they have the right to examine the proposed charter before it is used.
Second, politically speaking, Thai citizens need to approve or disapprove the proposed charter.
Third, a national referendum was held for the 2007 charter, hence the new constitution should go through the same process for the sake of legitimacy.
Fourth, a national referendum would allow the CDC to explain the rationale and principles of the new charter to the people, and this would be beneficial to all citizens, politicians, bureaucrats and others, all of whom have to abide by the highest law in the land.
Finally, the proposed new charter consists of articles which require the government to hold national referendums on charter amendments that may be needed in the future, so this would set a precedent for such a requirement, he said.
The CDC yesterday held a special session, during which members agreed unanimously to write an official letter to the premier, who is also head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), urging his government to hold a referendum on the new charter.
Lertrat said that in the event that the majority of voters rejected the proposed constitution, it would be the duty of the NCPO and the Cabinet to decide what to do next. For example, there could be a new charter-drafting body, or one of the previous versions of the constitution might be adopted.
Earlier, CDC chairman Borwornsak Uwanno insisted that a national referendum |must be held to endorse the proposed new charter, but said this would add at least one more month to the whole process because 42 million copies of the charter draft would have to be printed for distribution to eligible voters.
Lertrat believes the Cabinet and the NCPO will hold a joint session to decide on this issue on May 19, while the NLA will likely consider amendments to the interim charter in June.
In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam made a four-point proposal to the charter drafters yesterday, including doing away with the many new assemblies and committees to be created under the new charter, such as a Citizen’s Assembly, Reform Movement Council, Strategic Reform Committee and National Ethics Assembly.
