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The Samak Cabinet yesterday took an important step toward easing political tensions. It agreed that it is necessary to consult the Thai people first through a national referendum before the Constitution is to be rewritten, wholly or in part. This has delayed the Constitution rewrite, at least for a moment. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is spearheading a campaign against the charter rewrite, is breathing fire. It has called for all MPs and senators who have submitted a motion to rewrite the Constitution to be removed from office. It has also gone as far as to demand the resignation of the Samak government altogether.

We are now living dangerously. The PAD is in war mode, believing that the attempt to rewrite the Constitution is aimed at preventing the People Power Party, the  Chart Thai and the Matchima Party from being dissolved and also at whitewashing the corruption cases against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The PAD has been rallying since Sunday and it seems that the group won't stop until it can get rid of the Thaksin regime.

Supporters of the Constitution rewrite have also moved in to pester the PAD. There have been reports of minor clashes between both sides. Police will have to tighten security measures to prevent any loss of life. Should loss of life occur, the situation would spiral out of control. We would like all parties to adopt peaceful means.

There are legal complications regarding the Constitution rewrite. Can lawmakers rely on the organic law of the 1997 Constitution, which was scrapped by the 2006 military coup, to hold a national referendum on the new Constitution? The Juridical Council, which advises the state on legal matters, has been assigned to look into this issue.

If it is no longer possible to employ the organic law of the 1997 Constitution to hold a referendum, then it would be necessary to introduce a new piece of legislation on the referendum. The Election Commission could be assigned to act as sponsor of the referendum legislation. Then the Parliament could take up the referendum bill for a vote in its extraordinary session next month. The referendum would cost about Bt2 billion.

Earlier, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said he would like to have a Royal Decree introduced to support the referendum on the Constitution. But opposition against the Royal Decree would be fierce, so he dropped the idea.

Samak has so far helped to keep political temperatures from boiling over. Indeed, Samak has never been in favour of a constitutional rewrite from the start. Shortly after becoming prime minister more than three months ago, he announced that amending the constitution was not one of his priorities. He said he wanted to focus on tackling the problems of the country first and that amending the charter would be the last item of his national agenda.

But the People Power Party, which Samak heads and over which Samak has no control, is pressing him on the amendments. House Speaker Chai Chidchob, father of Newin Chidchob, is keen for the rewrite to go forward. Some 164 senators and MPs originally submitted a motion for the charter amendments. But with public pressure, 30 of them, mostly senators, have withdrawn their signatures. If another nine members of Parliament were to withdraw their names, this motion would be dropped because it requires one-fifth of the members of Parliament to submit the motion.

It is ironic that the Thai public went through the national referendum last year to approve the Constitution by a high margin. It would not be a matter of life and death if politicians were to focus on their work and let the 2007 Constitution run its course for a while before looking at its pros and cons. Now, instead of focusing on tackling the rising cost of living and higher inflation, the Samak government has made rewriting the charter its top priority. This has triggered a belief that the government is more interested in guarding its own interests than those of Thai citizens, who are living in hard times.

We urge the Samak government to hold back its agenda to rewrite the Constitution for a while. The PAD then would have no reason to stage its rallies. The supporters of the amendments could also stay home. Then the country can move forward to focus on tackling the economic problems that are hurting all low- and middle-income families.