Charter draft now set for royal endorsement: PM
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said he had signed the charter draft given to him by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) and it will now go forward for royal endorsement, the final step in the draft’s promulgation.
Yesterday was the last of the 30 days the government was given under the interim charter to review and endorse the document.
Prayut said at his weekly press briefing that the royal endorsement would take place within 90 days, as determined in the same charter.
The charter draft has been through two revisions since it was passed in the August 7 referendum.
The first revision involved the process in selecting a prime minister by joint parliamentary meeting of the Senate and the Lower House if the House fails to select the PM from political parties’ lists in the first round.
The second revision took place following the passing of His Majesty the King, whose role and contribution was mentioned in the charter’s preamble.
According to Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, the CDC would also be responsible for adding the name of the new king, once announced, in the preamble.
Chief constitution drafter Meechai Ruchupan said on Monday that he was convinced the new charter would be promulgated within 90 days after the government seeks royal endorsement. But he declined to say when the new constitution would take effect.
“I cannot give you the exact date,” Meechai said. He added that the traditional final handwritten ceremonial version of the constitution had been completed.