Moving ahead: MFP urges new PM to keep charter referendum promise
The Move Forward Party (MFP) called on Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to address a charter to hold a referendum in his initial Cabinet meeting, as previously promised. This follows the House of Representatives rejecting MFP’s push to expedite a full constitution rewrite, currently the 33rd item on the House’s agenda.
Highlighting the urgency, list-MP Parit Wacharasindhu acknowledged the House’s decision and stressed the new government’s need to prioritise a referendum in their first Cabinet session, possibly on Tuesday. He underlined the referendum’s key questions: whether to entirely rewrite the charter and how the responsible body should be chosen.
Last November, the House approved a motion, backed by 323 opposition MPS, advocating a charter to hold a referendum but the Senate later rejected it. The proposal aimed to use a referendum to assess if an elected assembly should draft a new constitution, replacing the existing one.
The MFP resubmitted a similar motion when the House reconvened, which was placed 33rd on the list. Parit argued that elevating the motion on the agenda would not impact the consideration of other issues, as MPs would merely be asked to confirm what several parties had already backed.
In contrast, Attakorn Sirilatthayakorn, an MP from the Palang Pracharath Party, contended that other motions held equal importance and addressed pressing farmer concerns. Khrumanit Sangphum, a Pheu Thai MP, indicated the Cabinet’s forthcoming discussion about the proposed referendum. This implied the House should prioritise public needs instead.
The MFP’s request to expedite the charter reform motion for deliberation was declined by 262 MPs, with 143 voting in support and one abstaining.
In a connected development, the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) organization submitted a petition yesterday to the Election Commission, proposing a revision of the 2017 constitution.
This request gained backing from 211,914 signatures. The Election Commission emphasized verifying the legitimacy of the signatories rather than addressing possible referendum inquiries. Earlier this week, Pheu Thai announced intentions to assess iLaw’s petition regarding the referendum.
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