BANGKOK, 30 April 2015 – The President of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has stated the government cannot call for a public referendum through the use of Section 44 of the 2014 interim constitution.
NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai explained that the government would need to submit a proposal through the current legislative process.
Section 44 gives the head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) absolute authority over matters of national security.
However, Prof Pornpetch said the interim constitution does not give the government and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) the authority to make amendments to the charter. Therefore, Section 44 cannot be used to amend the interim charter in order for it to stipulate a public referendum on the draft constitution.
The NLA President said the government must instead resort to Section 46 of the interim constitution, which gives the government and the NCPO the authority to submit amendment proposals to the NLA. The proposals must go through the usual legislative process of approving a constitutional amendment.
