Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha on Monday insisted he had not violated any laws by putting bills seeking wholesale changes to the constitution on the agenda without a referendum being held first.
The bills, which many consider amount to a redrafting of the constitution, are among a dozen to be deliberated in their first readings on Thursday and Friday. Technically, the bills require a referendum after a 2021 ruling by the Constitutional Court on the protocol for drafting a new charter.
However, the 2021 ruling does not specify how many referendum rounds are required.
Mr Wan said he had consulted the government, the opposition and the Senate whips and the cabinet representatives whose majority agreed that the debate could proceed despite no referendum being conducted first.
He cited an earlier ruling by the Constitutional Court to support his decision to put bills seeking to amend Section 256, which paved the way for setting up a charter drafting assembly (CDA), on the agenda.
"I put them on the agenda for deliberation to save budget. If parliament accepts the bills for further examination, I will then put the entire process on hold and ask the Election Commission [EC] to hold a referendum.
"But if the referendum is held first and is adopted but is later rejected by parliament, it means the three billion baht cost of organising the referendum becomes a waste," he said.
However, he said that a group of 40 MPs or senators can submit a motion asking for a fresh Constitutional Court ruling on the need for a referendum.
Earlier in the day, Pheu Thai Party deputy leader Chousak Sirinil said that a motion asking the Constitutional Court to rule on the number of referendums required for a charter rewrite might be proposed during the planned debate.
The motion is widely anticipated because two of the charter proposals sponsored by the ruling party and the main opposition People's Party (PP) seek wholesale charter changes that require referendums.
Mr Chousak said that as far as he is concerned, parliament will proceed with the first readings as scheduled, but there is a possibility that a motion seeking the court intervention could come up. The motion can be proposed under the 31st parliament regulation and requires the support of at least 40 members to pass, he added.
Mr Chousak last week suggested that the government, opposition and Senate whips jointly seek a Constitutional Court ruling on the number of referendums to allay concerns about violating the 2021 court ruling.
He said that senators and certain political parties are concerned about violating the ruling and may resort to this option. However, he noted that there has yet to be a decision from the whips on whether to seek a ruling.
Meanwhile, a charter rewrite advocacy group submitted a letter to the Senate on Monday asking the chamber to vote for the charter rewrite bills without worrying about a referendum.
The constitution says that support from one-third of senators is required for a charter amendment bill to pass. The letter was accepted by Sen Pist Apiwattanpong.