New constitution will be acceptable to all sides, Phumtham assures

He said Thailand needs a new constitution that is “more democratic”, but he promised that the first two chapters in the current charter involving the kingdom’s sovereignty and the monarchy would be left intact.

“This government will keep its promise [about having a new constitution drafted]. … There must be a new constitution that is more democratic, but Chapters 1 and 2 will not be touched,” said Phumtham, who is deputy leader of the coalition’s core partner Pheu Thai Party.

There has been concern, particularly among conservatives, that the first two chapters about the kingdom’s unity and the monarchy may be rewritten to allow changes in the country’s status from an indivisible kingdom and a constitutional monarchy.

Phumtham, who doubles as the commerce minister, also said that a new constitution was expected to provide more protection to people’s rights and liberties while making it easier for the administration to run the country.

He said a new committee would be set up that consists of representatives from diverse groups of people to help determine a “balanced point” in the move to write a new constitution.

“They are going to tackle [differences] one by one to reach a point that all sides can accept. We need to start from accepting the fact that this constitution makes any amendment difficult,” Phumtham said.
 

The deputy PM said the new panel would include legal experts from all political parties.

He said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had instructed that the committee be set up as soon as possible to “draw participation from all sides involved”.

To write a new constitution, the current one must be amended to allow that.

Phumtham noted on Thursday that eight such amendment bills had been submitted over the four years during the previous House of Representatives, but none of them got through Parliament.

He said the Constitutional Court had ruled that voters must be asked in a national referendum to decide whether the current Constitution should be amended to allow a new charter to be written.

According to Phumtham, as many as four referendums would be required for a new constitution and holding national votes for those would cost an estimated 20 billion baht.
 

The 2017 Constitution, which was written under the post-coup junta, appears designed to make amendments extremely difficult. To amend a clause, support is required from all sides involved – junta-appointed senators, the ruling coalition, and political parties outside the government.

Proponents of an amendment must first get support from at least one-fifth of the lower House, or 100 MPs, to submit a motion. The proposed amendment then requires backing from more than half of both Houses of Parliament, or a minimum of 376 votes, to pass the first reading. Those votes must include at least one-third of all 250 senators, or 84 votes.

To pass the second reading, the proposed amendment requires a simple majority from both Houses (500 MPs and 250 senators), or at least 376 votes.

In the third and final reading, majority support from both Houses is required, but the supporters must include at least 84 senators and at least 20% of all MPs from political parties not represented in the Cabinet or holding the posts of House speaker or deputy speaker.