NRC member queries 'majority votes' requirement for referendum
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A MEMBER of the National Reform Council has called on his colleagues to shoot down the draft charter, arguing that the conditions for the referendum were flawed and it would be a waste of state funds if it were to go ahead.
Niran Pantarakit, a member of the NRC’s political reform committee, said he had studied the conditions listed in the interim charter and realised that Clause 7 of Article 37 says “the charter must win majority votes of the total ‘eligible voters’.”
This, he said, would mean that the draft would have to win “yes” votes from a majority of 47 million eligible voters, which would make it impossible for the draft charter to go through.
“If the charter is put through a referendum, it would most certainly fail. How can it possibly win 23.5 million votes when the turnout might be even less [than that]?” Niran remarked.
Hence, he said, the best option would be for the reformers to vote down the draft charter this Sunday. He also called on concerned agencies, including the Cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), to amend the interim charter before the referendum is held.
However, Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) member Jade Donavanik insisted that the clause referred to the turnout rather than the entire electorate. He said that to win approval, the draft charter would have to win a simple majority from the eligible voters who exercise their ballot.
CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn, meanwhile, said he did not believe the interim charter crafted by the NLA would have any mistakes.
Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiya-korn has said that the EC was discussing the issue with its legal team and had not yet resolved whether the interim charter’s Article 37 would pose the problems pointed out by Niran, Somchai’s secretary said.
