Last week, the Pheu Thai Party, the main opposition party, and the People’s Party ( PP ), the main opposition party, took center stage again.
As commonly speculated, the effort failed to see any improvement made.
Due to a lack of quorum, the joint session of MPs and senators deliberating a proposed change to Section 256 of the 2017 charter, which would allow for the creation of a charter drafting assembly ( CDA ), collapsed.
One of the two biggest obstacles to passing an amendment to the current military-sponsored charter is one of the two biggest ones. It was intended to be challenging to alter.
The other is the profound division in the coalition government that has been the result of an intentional lack of quorum, a tactic that not only prevents complete failure but frequently causes overwhelming delays in an already lengthy process.
Sutin Klungsang, a Pheu Thai MP, acknowledged that the group had a feared the Constitutional Court’s decision would have rejected its act, so he purposefully halted the meetings to avoid having a quorum.
Given these two challenges, the only way to maintain a contract rewrite’s success is with the cabinet sponsoring the legislation, which will show the Bhumjaithai Party’s and its “blue party” cooperating with the Senate.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the head of the Bhumjaithai Party, claimed that his party was only adhering to the court’s ruling and not attempting to impede Pheu Thai’s effort to create a new constitution.
The court ruled in 2021 that the electorate must first determine whether or not they like a new charter through a vote.
Due to a mandated cooling-off time, the election law has not yet been passed.
The ruling party is expected to make an attempt to obtain a new court decision to target constitutional issues, but there is no guarantee that the judge will make a new ruling.
A petition asking the court to decide whether to include a suggested movement for policy amendment on parliament’s agenda for discussion was rejected in April of last year. The courts claimed they had now rendered a decision in this regard.
The PP and its opponents argue that the process of amending the charter may begin without seeking more judicial review, and that it would be a waste of time to file a new petition.
Social move, or honest push?
Pheu Thai is aware that the contract update strategy is unlikely to succeed, and that Rangsit University’s Wanwichit Boonprong, a political science expert, is attempting to shift duty to others, especially Bhumjaithai.
He claimed that the ruling party has chosen to stall the process in order to maintain its help center, particularly those who support a full constitutional overhaul and avoid falling to the PP.
He claimed that Bhumjaithai and the violet party in the Senate have been given a political hot potatoes, but added that the coalition partner may have considered the risks and believed that staying out of the procedure is the best course of action.
By refusing to participate, Bhumjaithai has taken the lead in opposing the update approach. The important question is then whether another coalition partners may follow suit.
If they do, Pheu Thai will no longer be able to move the issue on to its allies, and he may have to delay until the following poll, he said.
The fact that the government did not propose the contract rewrite bill reflects persistent disagreements between Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai, who both understand that the chances of the plan passing in a vote are slim.
” Bhumjaithai has read the game well as it is a shift that looks good diplomatically,” Mr Wanwichit said.
Bhumjaithai appears to be in a better place, he said, and a contract update was unlikely to succeed under the Pheu Thai-led state.
Wanwichit: Pheu Thai did go buck
Inexpensive, or moderate modify?
Stithorn Thananithichot, director of the Office of Innovation for Democracy at King Prajadhipok’s Institute, said the court may be asked to evaluate in on whether the article process is legal.
Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the judge may view the shift as an article or a update, given that the bills, backed by Pheu Thai and the PP, specific Section 256, he said.
They should first seek public endorsement if they are critical about it.
” But now that the bills are on the plan, and if they are passed in the first reading before a referendum, there will be issues,” he said. he said.
Another problem, according to Mr. Stithorn, is with the Senate, particularly the violet group, which opposes total revision.
He claimed that Pheu Thai’s main goal with the contract amendment campaign is not to get a new charter, but rather to loosen it so the party may push for section-by-section modifications on the issues it prioritizes.
And even if this pay is unsuccessful, the organization can also tell the electorate that it has done its best while doing little when a Senate is opposed to the alter, he continued.
Because it lacks support from parliament to expand its agenda, according to Mr. Stithorn, a rewrite is likely to take a long time.
The party will inform the electorate that a significant success in the upcoming election will enable the passage of a constitutional amendment, he added.
The chances of having a new contract before the next elections are pretty thin unless the state and the Senate are united.
Stithorn: Court to have ultimate claim
” The reality is the method is getting nothing because the charges seek to suppress the Senate’s capabilities, “he said.