The Senate has rejected a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that would have authorised a referendum on the rewriting of the constitution on the same day as the next general election is held.
The resolution, which entrusts the cabinet to arrange the referendum, was overwhelmingly dropped by the Senate by a vote of 157 to 12, following a lengthy debate yesterday.
The resolution, if passed, would have led to a charter rewrite assembly being established with its members elected by the public.
Before yesterday’s vote, the Senate acknowledged the result of a relevant study by a committee headed by Senator Somchai Sawaengkarn.
The panel opposed the House resolution, arguing it would go against the constitution as the referendum question proposed by the House lacked clarity and was not conducive to helping people understand which flaws in the charter warranted a complete rewrite.
Mr Somchai told the Senate meeting the assertion by the Lower House that the charter must be replaced because it was the product of a military coup did not carry enough weight.
He insisted the current charter was a done deal but conceded it could be amended in part.
Also, the constitution contains no clause on establishing a charter rewrite assembly, Sen Somchai said, noting the House resolution failed to specify a timeframe for the rewrite.
If the charter was replaced without strong justification, it could imperil the country’s rule of law, he added.
Sen Somchai said there was little chance of the referendum being held on the same day as the election, tentatively scheduled for May 7, given the time restrictions imposed by the referendum law.
Several lawmakers said that organising both events on the same day would be more cost-effective than holding them on separate occasions.
Most importantly, Sen Somchai said, any referendum would need to be organised three times before a charter rewrite could be completed.
The first round would involve asking voters whether they agreed with a new constitution being drawn up.
If so, Section 256 of the constitution must be fixed to create leeway for a charter rewrite body to materialise, he noted.
After that, a second referendum would let people decide if they agreed with a charter rewrite taking place via assembly. If so, the redrafting could go ahead.
At the end of that process, the new charter would be put up for a third and final referendum.
The three rounds, each costing at least 3.5 billion baht to arrange, would put too much strain on the national coffers, the senator said.
“Referendums can go ahead but they must not contradict any laws,” Sen Somchai said.