Surawong” insists on trying to push the draft of the referendum bill to be ready for the election of provincial assembly members and to draft the constitution in time for this government. He emphasizes that holding a single-level referendum is the best.

Mr. Surawong Thienthong, Minister of Tourism and Sports and Secretary-General of the Pheu Thai Party, spoke about the case of the unresolved referendum bill and the possibility that the drafting of the new constitution will not be completed in time for this government. As for the Pheu Thai Party, it is determined to maintain the date and time as much as possible. The first thing is to try to get the referendum bill approved by the parliament. Currently, it is in the process of setting up a joint committee of the two houses. It is still hoped that it will be completed in time to draft the new constitution. It is believed that when there is a joint meeting, it should be discussed at the joint committee level. If there is anything that can be adjusted or biased,
it will be tried to be done in time.

However, he insisted that a single referendum would be the best because there would be no objection, which would cause issues, and would prevent the constitution from being amended. Regarding concerns from many parties that the first round of referendum would not be able to be held in time for the nationwide election of provincial assembly members, Mr. Surawong said that they would try to make it in time. If they really could not make it in time, they would have to spend a considerable budget on a separate referendum.

As for whether the 2021 referendum law could be used instead, Mr. Surawong said that he did not know the details. He would have to ask Mr. Chusak Sirinil, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, whose legal team is responsible for this legal matter.

When asked if the Pheu Thai Party had talked to the Bhumjaithai Party and the coalition parties about amending the constitution, Mr. Surawong said that the parties had not talked yet, but he was confident that
Ms. Paethongtarn Shinawatra, the Prime Minister and the party leader, would have talked at the party leader level. But as for what it would be like, let’s wait until we have a detailed discussion first.

When asked if the Senate was worried that the amendment of the constitution would not be possible, even in each section, Mr. Surawong said that the Pheu Thai Party was trying its best to make everything go smoothly and on time. If there was anything that could be changed or anything that we were committed to, we could talk about it.

Source: Thai News Agency