3 rounds of referendum ‘essential’

Opposition MP argues 2 is much

Nikorn: Court has ruled on issue
Nikorn: Court has ruled on topic

Three rounds of election are a must for a proposed update of the 2017 law, Nikorn Chamnong, minister to the combined House-Senate House section on the election expenses, said.

On Wednesday Mr Nikorn was rejecting a state by People’s Party record MP Parit Wacharasindhu that two elections had enough, based on what the former said was verification by Parliament President Wan Muhammad Noor Matha during a new conference.

He said that based on a Constitutional Court decision in March 2021, the government is required to keep three rounds, and no fewer than that, if a general contract update is to be conducted.

Mr Nikorn said the meeting between Mr Wan and Mr Parit, who chairs the House committee on social development, bulk contact, and public involvement, does nothing to alter the judge’s decision as the decision had broader program.

Mr Parit sought the meeting with Mr Wan to discuss the possibility of shortening the referendum process required for a charter rewrite to proceed so the country will have a new constitution penned by a charter-drafting assembly ( CDA ) before the next general election.

Mr Parit said that to do so in time, the government will have to reduce the number of contract elections to two instead of three as initially planned.

” But the meeting ca n’t lower the number of referendums because the court ruling applies to parliament,” said Mr Nikorn. ” The congress president may face a problem if he bows to pressure for him to put policy act bills on the plan prematurely. “

He reminded the People’s Party of what happened during the previous effort to update the contract in which its predeccesor, the Women’s Party, tried to set up the CDA in 2021, but failed.

The military-appointed Senate at that time was concerned about violating the contract and sought a court decision before the president’s next reading. Mr Nikorn said that this time, the law act act would most likely experience blocking efforts as early as its primary reading, which may further lag the charter rewrite process.

Speaking after the meeting with Mr Wan, Mr Parit said he would ask the party MPs to resubmit a charter amendment bill, which would pave the way for the government, opposition and Senate whips to reconsider the number of charter referendums.

He said he had new information to present to the whips, which would convince them that two rounds of referendum would be sufficient.

Mr Parit said the 2021 court ruling did not specify how many rounds of a referendum would be required.

It only said that a charter rewrite could not proceed unless a referendum is held first, so it was safe to assume that two rounds would be sufficient, he said.