Pheu Thai to discuss charter rewrite

Legal team to focus first on Section 256

The Pheu Thai Party’s legal team is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the framework for drafting a new constitution, according to deputy leader Chousak Sirinil.

The meeting will focus on proposed amendments to Chapter 15/1, Section 256, which would pave the way for a full constitutional rewrite, Mr Chousak said on Friday.

The People’s Party (PP), Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai (BJT) have agreed on moving forward with the new charter.

Mr Chousak said a referendum must be held on two occasions, featuring key questions, the first one being whether the public supports the drafting of a new charter.

The second concerns the principles and key content of the new constitution.

Mr Chousak said it may not be possible to complete the initial draft in time for submission to the Committee on Political Development next week, as the process must be conducted thoroughly.

Legal discussions are still needed on how a constituent assembly should be formed, whether by parliamentary appointment or otherwise, he noted.

Somkid Cheukong, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister on political affairs, commented on PP MP Parit Wacharasindhu’s call for parties to submit their draft amendments next week.

He said Pheu Thai already has a draft from the previous parliament. This took around eight months to form a Constituent Assembly, with members being elected nationwide.

“Accelerating the timeline to just 3-4 months would be unrealistic,” Mr Somkid said.

He warned that amending Section 256 requires not only majority support in the House but also one-third of senators. Without this, efforts would stall.

Even a referendum alone would take around four months to organise, leaving little room before the possible dissolution of parliament, he said.

He suggested dissolving parliament within a month and launching election campaigns related to the charter-amendment issue.

Sawaeng Boonmee, secretary-general of the Election Commission (EC), said no referendum plan has been presented yet.

By law, the government must consult the EC before the prime minister sets a referendum date. “But we are ready to proceed,” he said.

Vorapong Anancharoenkij, director of the EC’s election support office, said a referendum must be held within 90 days and 120 days at the latest, once approved. If combined with a general election, the timeframe shifts to 60 days at the earliest and 150 days at the latest.