Charter referendum 'will delay elections'

Wissanu said that once the National Reform Council (NRC) approves the revised draft of the charter, a plebiscite could be held at the end of this year or early in 2016. Copies of the charter would be sent to all 47 million eligible voters. 

 

Prayut chooses to stay quiet

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, meanwhile, chose to stay mum yesterday on whether he wanted the public to vote on the new constitution, only saying that he would first discuss the issue with the Cabinet. 

“I will have to listen to other people in the Cabinet before I voice my views,” he said, pointing out that the provisional charter imposed by his junta would first have to be amended before a referendum can be held. 

When asked if he thought spending Bt3 billion on a referendum would be worthwhile, the prime ministr said the parties involved should decide whether they want it.

“If everybody wants a referendum, we will have to hold it, regardless of the cost,” he said. 

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the Cabinet will meet next Tuesday to decide on matters related to the referendum. 

 

‘It will take a lot of time’

Wissanu, also a legal adviser to the government, said yesterday that the challenge was not about the referendum itself, but rather the time spent on the process, which would postpone the election date outlined by the junta’s “road map back to democracy”. 

Also, the interim charter will have to be amended to allow a referendum, which again would alter the original time frame on the next election, he said. 

The NCPO and the Cabinet are empowered by the interim charter to propose all amendments to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for approval. 

Wissanu said that once the NCPO and the Cabinet agree on the amendment, it would take no more than 15 days to submit the draft of the changes to the NLA. He said the amendment would specify whether a previous should be adopted or what to do should the draft charter be rejected by the public. 

“All the details will have to be checked with the Election Commission, which will probably be responsible of overseeing the whole process,” Wissanu said. 

On Wednesday, the Constitution Drafting Committee told Prayut that a referendum on the new charter was crucial to enabling a solid path back to democracy. 

“I have already received a request from the CDC and will introduce it during a Cabinet-NCPO meeting. However, it would be better if the NRC and the NLA also submitted their explanation” about their decision to call for a referendum on the new charter, Wissanu said. 

Meanwhile, CDC spokesman General Lertrat Ratanavanich said the charter panel was expecting to get recommendations from political parties on the revisions of the draft by May 20. All parties would be informed by June 6 about the date on which they would convene to hear explanations on each recommendation. These parties used to have their representatives in the parliament, Lertrat said.