People’s Party presses Bhumjaithai over ‘broken’ charter pact on Senate veto

At around 11.15pm on December 11, 2025, at Parliament, list MP Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party and opposition chief in the House, spoke to reporters after the special joint sitting on charter amendments ended in disappointment for reform advocates.

Natthaphong said it was “regrettable” that, in the second reading, Section 256/28 was amended in a way that restores the old rule: any new constitution must first win the support of one-third of senators before it can be put to a referendum. This ran counter to the committee majority’s proposal – previously backed by Bhumjaithai – to allow a new charter to pass with more than half of the combined House–Senate vote, without a special Senate quota.

He revealed that before the vote he had told Bhumjaithai directly that, if the draft left Parliament with the one-third Senate veto intact, the People’s Party would be unable to accept moving on to the third reading. The switch in the chamber, he said, meant Bhumjaithai had effectively stepped away from the spirit of the MOA on constitutional reform agreed between the two parties.

Even so, Natthaphong stressed that one “last task” remains: pushing through a referendum on the first gateway question about drafting a new constitution, to be held alongside the next general election. That motion passed the joint sitting, and he called on the Bhumjaithai-led government – caretaker or otherwise – to prove it retains “some sincerity” by having the Cabinet formally resolve to hold the referendum as mandated by Parliament.

Asked whether he felt betrayed, Natthaphong said the opposition had done everything possible within tight political constraints, trying to keep the charter-drafting process alive while accepting that the government remained a minority. He noted that Bhumjaithai had supported the committee line in earlier stages, and that a government whip resolution had instructed coalition MPs to vote with the committee majority – only for the vote to flip “on the floor” at the last minute.

Just after midnight on December 12, the People’s Party issued a statement accusing Bhumjaithai of handing control of the new charter’s content back to the Senate, from “start to finish”, by agreeing to keep the one-third veto. The statement said this decision turns the current amendment process into a dead end for a truly people-driven constitution – a core obstacle the party “cannot accept”, even as it continues to fight for a referendum and a fresh mandate from voters.