Pheu Thai to discuss referendum on drafting new charter in first Cabinet meeting

The assurance was given by Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew and his deputy, Chusak Sirinil, to a group of people led by leaders of the Internet Dialogue on Law Reform (iLaw). The group submitted their demand at the Pheu Thai headquarters to speed up the charter referendum process.

The group, who called themselves "the committee on charter drafting", was led by Jiranuch Premchaiporn.

Jiranuch told Cholnan and other leading Pheu Thai members that her group had actually gathered 205,739 names of eligible voters to submit to the Election Commission to demand a referendum as to whether a new charter should be written and enacted to replace the 2017 Constitution.

But the group fears that the EC would drag its feet in verifying the signatories, so the group would like the Pheu Thai, which heads the next ruling coalition, to use its executive power to hold a referendum instead.

Jiranuch said the group also realised that Pheu Thai had promised during the election campaign to push for the election of a new constitution drafting assembly to write a new constitution, so the group’s demand is in keeping with Pheu Thai’s policy.

The group also called on the Pheu Thai government to adopt its version of the referendum question so that the referendum could be held fairly without any attempt to distort the outcome.

The group has proposed the following question: “Do you agree on whether Parliament must amend the 2017 Constitution so that an entirely new constitution could be drafted by members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) who will come from elections by the people”.

Jiranuch said her group would like the new Cabinet to take up the referendum call for deliberation in the very first meeting.

In his reply, Cholnan said Pheu Thai would ask the Cabinet to consider the matter in the first meeting.

He said if the majority of voters vote “Yes” in the referendum, the government would invoke Article 256 of the charter to amend the constitution to have a new charter drafted by the CDA.

Cholnan also promised to take up the referendum question of the group for other coalition partners to consider.

“If they think the question is already clear, it would be easier for the Cabinet to handle the issue,” Cholnan said.

He added that the call of the iLaw group aligned well with Pheu Thai’s policy.

Chusak told the group that Pheu Thai itself wanted to have a new charter drafted.

He himself had proposed to the party that a referendum must be held as a guarantee so that Parliament would heed the people’s wish and amend the existing charter accordingly.

“We plan to ask in the referendum whether the people want a new charter and whether they want a new CDA to draft it or not,” Chusak said.

He said although a public referendum would cost a lot of money, it would be worthwhile as it would respect the wish of the majority.