Pheu Thai offers House dissolution in 4 months to win People’s Party

He suggested using the 1997 Constitution as a temporary framework while a new charter is drafted by an elected Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA), alongside a commitment to dissolve the House of Representatives within four months.

Phumtham, speaking on Saturday, said the People’s Party’s key demand is a nationwide referendum to approve the drafting of a new constitution by an elected CDA, coupled with a dissolution of the House within four months after the new government delivers its policy statement to Parliament.

He argued that the root of today’s political problems lies in the 2017 Constitution, which has distorted the system. “To resolve this, the political order must be reset. We therefore agree that the constitution must be amended to remove these obstacles,” he said.

Acknowledging that drafting a new constitution will take time, Phumtham proposed that the referendum should also ask voters whether the 1997 Constitution—widely regarded as Thailand’s most democratic charter—should be temporarily reinstated while the CDA completes its work.

He added that dissolving the House within four months would not be an issue, saying: “If the process goes forward, we could even dissolve the House earlier—we would not oppose that.”

Phumtham also suggested putting the contentious issue of the 2000–2001 memoranda of understanding (MOUs 43–44) with Cambodia, which have fuelled disputes over the Thai–Cambodian border, to a referendum.

He stressed that his proposals aimed to strengthen Thailand’s stability in the eyes of the international community. “When holding a referendum, several issues that are a source of crisis-level disputes should be presented for the people to decide,” he added.

Asked about progress in negotiations with the People’s Party, Phumtham said that informal discussions were already under way and a coordinating team was in place. 

“Some exchanges have taken place, but to open official talks we need the back-channel discussions to reach a clear conclusion first. This is a good step because the People’s Party and Pheu Thai do not differ greatly in terms of ideology,” he said.