Charter amendment entering Parliament is already a start, says Anutin
Anutin says Parliament’s joint session will debate which draft to prioritise; if the charter amendment isn’t completed in four months, getting it into Parliament still means progress.
At the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters in Bangkok on Monday, Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also leads the Bhumjaithai Party, said the upcoming joint session of Parliament would determine which party’s draft constitutional amendment would serve as the main version.
He said the joint sitting, scheduled for October 14–15, would proceed in accordance with parliamentary mechanisms.
Asked whether the process would require the full four months to complete, Anutin said everything was progressing as agreed among coalition parties, in line with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed with the People’s Party.
When asked whether the government might not last the full four months and the process remain unfinished, Anutin replied, “At least it will have entered Parliament — that means it has begun.”
Asked whether he had checked senators’ support for the amendment, the prime minister said he had not, stressing that the matter should be handled through democratic procedures.
On the likelihood of the bill passing, Anutin said each party had its own stance. Bhumjaithai, he added, would not touch Chapters 1 and 2, while other sections could be discussed later. He expressed hope the bill would pass its first reading and advance to the committee stage.
When asked whether the ruling party could push it through the third reading to pave the way for a referendum and new elections, Anutin said: “We have to work together. The People’s Party wanted Bhumjaithai to help initiate the constitutional amendment process.”
