“Phumtham” reiterates need to discuss with leaders of coalition parties on the issue of amending the constitution using two levels of votes, confirms understanding of differing opinions but must reach a mutual understanding
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Phumtham Vejjayachai spoke about the case of Prime Minister’s Office Minister Chusak Sirinil who raised the issue that there must be a discussion with the leaders of the coalition parties on the amendment of the constitution to be in the same direction so that there will not be the current problems. He said that this matter has not been discussed yet, but it must be discussed as Mr. Chusak said. As for the senators who objected and overturned the MPs’ resolution using a two-tier majority to amend the draft referendum bill, it must be sent back to the House of Representatives to see whether they agree with the Senate’s proposed amendment or not. After this, it will follow the process, which is to set up a joint committee, which must wait for the
process to reach a conclusion first. But during this time, there must be a discussion about what opinions there are because the opinions of the MPs and the Senators do not match.
As for how the discussion with the leaders of the coalition parties will affect the senators, Mr. Phumtham said that this matter is not related. However, the discussion with the leaders of the coalition parties is to find a way or reach a mutual understanding.
As for whether the leaders of the various parties will come to confirm whether they agree with the amendment of the constitution or not, to prevent any distortion, Mr. Phumtham said that this is not the case, but there must be a discussion. When the situation has come out like this, with the political situation like this, how will the various political parties in the government view it? However, there has not been a meeting to discuss because the matter just happened yesterday.
Mr. Phumtham also mentioned the resolution of the senators yesterday that they disagreed and had t
o start over, saying that in this matter, we must understand the differences that can have different opinions. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and discuss, especially the chief whip of the government who must discuss with the senators about their opinions, especially the senators who have different opinions, in which aspect they see it, so that they can talk to each other and believe that talking will find a conclusion.
When asked whether all parties must see things in the same direction, Mr. Phumtham said that it depends on the matter, but important matters must be discussed and depend on the differences of each party. Therefore, will this affect the timeline for the referendum to be delayed? Mr. Phumtham thinks that at the moment, it will have an effect that will cause us to review and consider how to best solve the problem, and will it result in the amendment of the constitution not being completed in this government? Mr. Phumtham thinks that this matter is still too far away, so don’t rush to co
nclusions.
As for the observation that the first referendum will not be held in time for the election of the provincial administrative organization members, who will win and who will lose, Mr. Phumtham said that at this level, everything is still following the process. There is nothing different from the process in any way. It is just that at one point, it needs to be accelerated to be in time for the election of the provincial administrative organization members so that it can be done together. But when there are different opinions, it is normal to have to understand each other. Therefore, this kind of situation can happen all the time, especially in the council meeting because each side has different opinions. We have to understand each other.
As for Mr. Chusak signaling that if the amendment of the referendum law is delayed because it has to be done 3 times, but there is still another proposal to amend the constitution to be done 2 times, Mr. Phumtham said that this matter must be asked of Mr. Chusak. He
himself did not talk to Mr. Chusak at all. This proposal came from Mr. Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the leader of the Progressive Movement, who thought that he did not take the details of that person to think. Now he is taking care of the issues that will go to the parliament and the problems. As for the opinions of each person, which may be similar and different, it is normal.
Source: Thai News Agency