“Chusak” prepares to discuss and pressure political party leaders to push for a clear amendment of the entire constitution after the Senate prepares to break with the House and return to using a 2-tier resolution, hinting that the referendum process to amend the constitution may be reduced to 2 times.
Mr. Chusak Sirinil, Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, talked about the amendment of the constitution, which the senators (SW) have an opinion that it may require a majority vote of 2 levels to hold a referendum. He said that it must be seen whether the Senate’s resolution will ultimately agree with the Senate’s committee or not. If it is seen that it will return to 2 levels, it is different from the House’s resolution. If so, the regulations must be considered together, which may have a joint committee. Consideration of the draft referendum bill will be slower than the current timeline, which is to be done at the same time as the election of Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) members
in February 2025, which is not possible. It may have to be considered separately.
Mr. Chusak added that the best solution is to discuss with the party leaders who must clearly discuss what the next step should be, such as whether there is currently a proposal to amend Section 256 of the constitution or not, by proposing a motion to draft a new constitution, and if it passes the parliament, then hold a referendum. This approach will only hold two referendums, not three like before. Academics and others have provided guidelines, so I would like to talk to the party leaders clearly because amending the constitution is the government’s policy on how it should proceed.
When asked if going back to a two-tier referendum would make pushing for a constitution less successful or more difficult, Mr. Chusak said that since the situation is like this and the government needs to move forward with drafting a new constitution, we need to discuss how we should proceed and what are the options.
When asked whether the discus
sion with the party leaders would affect the Senate in adjusting the amendment from two levels to only one level as the House had previously approved, Mr. Chusak said that it was beyond the timeline and left it to the Senate’s discretion. However, assuming that the situation is like this, with the Senate returning to being a two-tiered voting criterion, as the government, we have a policy to draft a new constitution. Should we start talking about how to proceed in the end to make the amendment of the new constitution smooth? The government’s policy still exists and has already been announced to the parliament. However, the process is how to discuss and solve the problem when the situation is like this.
As for the discussion with the party leaders, do you want one party to agree to the amendment of the constitution, which will affect the senators as well? Mr. Chusak said that he would like to propose that they sit down and talk as a government party, which consists of many parties, about what direction the go
vernment will take if the senators proceed in this way.
Source: Thai News Agency