PUBLISHED : 16 Feb 2024 at 05:20
The cabinet will deliberate next month over what is needed for a referendum to amend the constitution, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
Mr Phumtham, who chairs a panel studying the referendum needed for pursuing the charter amendment, told a meeting of coalition party leaders on Thursday that the report will be tabled to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and the cabinet for consideration.
He said the coalition party leaders have already agreed with the main issues presented by the panel about uncertainty on how many referendums should be held in the charter amendment process, the referendum question or questions, and the methods involved in a charter rewrite.
Mr Phumtham said the cabinet will discuss these issues with the findings to be presented to the Election Commission.
He said the parliament was looking to petition the Constitutional Court seeking its ruling over how many referendums should be held in the charter amendment.
The Constitutional Court ruled earlier that a charter rewrite could not proceed unless a referendum was held first.
The court maintained that amending critical areas of the charter or changing the charter in its entirety requires a prior, favourable referendum vote.
However, the ruling did not spell out how many referendums are needed to implement a charter rewrite.