Cabinet agrees to charter referendum
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Public could vote on new constitution in January
A NATIONAL referendum on the draft charter could possibly start on January 16, after the Cabinet and National Council for Peace and Order finally gave it their blessing, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-Ngam told reporters.
Experts believe the move was made to give the draft charter legitimacy.
Speaking after a meeting of the Cabinet and junta, Wissanu said the provisional constitution would have to be amended to pave way for the process.
The proposal for the amendment would be sent to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) by the end of next month. The NLA would have 15 days to deliberate and vote on it. If the amendment is passed, the Election Commission (EC) will begin organising the referendum.
About 47 million copies of the draft charter need be printed and distributed nationwide. Then the public will need two or three months to study and decide how to vote on it. The whole process would take three to four months.
The referendum could be held in January of next year. A minimum turnout of 80 per cent will be needed to legitimatise the result.
If the charter passes, the election could be held in August or September of next year.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha cautioned, however, that a vote on the charter was still not a sure thing.
There may be many steps along the way and it might not occur at all if the draft charter is rejected by the National Reform Council (NRC).
“I would like to ask reporters not to over-analyse the issue or make sweeping assumptions. The next step in the charter drafting process is whether the draft charter will be approved by the NRC, and whether there is still a need to further amend it before the NRC approves.”
The framers have until July 23 to submit the complete draft charter to the NRC, so that gives them less than two months to gather as much public opinion on it as possible and make all necessary changes to contentious articles.
Prayut conceded that the general election would be delayed by about three months as a result.
There is also public debate on whether the vote should be just on the whole charter, or on sections and articles that are considered controversial.
Prayut said it would be up to the EC to consider the details.
No other alternative: Jade
Observers believe the decision to allow a referendum on the proposed charter stemmed from the need to show broad support for it.
“There is no other alternative, as it is a matter of legitimacy for the constitution,” Jade Donavanik, a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), said.
The NCPO, like their military predecessors who staged the coup in 2006, needs to legitimise the draft charter |by holding a referendum, |as the drafting process itself was undemocratic.
“A sizeable group of people have expressed their will to have their say (on whether to accept the draft charter),” Attasit Pankaew, a political science lecturer at Thammasat University, said.
The draft charter had brought up the possibility of a referendum if needed, so it would be contradictory to not allow that to happen.
Besides what the referendum should look like, voters should be informed about the way it would be held, including the consequence of rejecting it. Either the people accept or deny the draft. If rejected, the drafting process should begin anew.
“Should voters reject the draft, there should be alternatives to it, either by replacing it older constitutions or doing the whole drafting process all over again,” he said.
Despite the ban on political gatherings of five or more people, experts said politicians and people should be able to meet and debate the merits and faults of the draft charter.
Both experts agreed that all stakeholders – whether voters or politicians from all spectrums – should be allowed to discuss and express their views.
