Referendum ‘would only confuse people’
The rector of Thammasat University disagreed with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s idea to survey people’s opinions about a constitutional amendment at the same time as the senatorial election, saying it will confuse people.
Moreover, a referendum and a public hearing must contain clear questions and first follow parliamentary procedures, he said. Democrat spokesman Ong-art Klampaiboon said the urgent problem was not about having a constitutional amendment, but whether to have Thaksin as prime minister. Thaksin’s suggestion about the opinion survey was simply an insincere tactic to buy time and distract people from the Shin Corp sale. Thaksin didn’t really want the charter amendment, he said. The secretary-general to the prime minister, Prommin Lertsuridej, said Thaksin had assigned Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam to consult with academics to draw up the best solution to prevent any confusion. Rector Surapon Nitikraipot of Thammasat University, former dean of the university’s faculty of law, said a constitutional amendment, according to Article 313, must start with the Cabinet or MPs signing an amendment proposal and presenting it to Parliament to approve each article. It requires more than half the votes of both the House and the Senate, in the same manner as the amendment on the selection process for the National Counter Corruption Commission. Yossawadee Hongthong,Prapasri Osathanon The Nation
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