A charter amendment bill seeking to pave the way for establishing a charter drafting assembly (CDA) has a slim chance of passing its first reading, according to Nikorn Chamnong, the secretary of the joint committee on the referendum bill.
His warning comes as parliament is scheduled to scrutinise various charter amendment bills section-by-section from Jan 14–15. Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha previously said that he was looking to include a bill seeking to amend Section 256 to set up the CDA, along with the others, for deliberation.
Mr Nikorn said the bill, which is sponsored by the main opposition People's Party (PP), faces several hurdles due to a 2021 ruling by the Constitutional Court involving the charter rewrite process.
The court said the people with the power to establish the constitution must first decide in a referendum whether they want a new one.
Following the ruling, a bill seeking to set up a CDA was rejected by parliament in its third and final reading as it did not garner enough support from the House and the Senate.
Mr Nikorn said some members of parliament might ask the Constitutional Court to rule if the upcoming debate is constitutional. Although no court review is sought this time, some might reject the bill in the first reading to avoid violating the court's ruling.
"The debate on the PP-sponsored bill is likely to create more tension between the House of Representatives and the Senate, which already came to a head over the size of majority required to pass a charter referendum," he said.
Section 256 states that a charter amendment requires the support of at least one-third of all senators in the first and third readings of a charter amendment bill.
The PP-sponsored bill proposes that the requirement involving one-third of support from the Senate be removed and replaced with two-thirds support from the House for the charter amendment bill to pass.
The CDA will comprise 200 members directly elected by the people under a two-ballot system, with the first ballot to elect 100 members from the constituency system and the other to select the 100 members from the party-list system. Those who contest under the party-list system must apply as a team with at least 20 members but not exceeding 100.
After the setting up of the CDA, a 45-member charter writing committee will be formed to draft a new charter. Of that number, 30 must be selected from the CDA, while the remaining can also be selected from the CDA or appointed.
Prime Minister's Office Minister and Pheu Thai legal specialist Chousak Sirinil said the ruling party would meet next Tuesday to decide if it will propose its own bill to set up the CDA.
