Charter rewrite may proceed with two referenda
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Fate of existing bill remains uncertain
published : 11 Mar 2021 at 18:05 (Bangkok Post file photo)
Parliament has the duty and authority to write a new constitution, but two referenda must be held first to ask whether people want a new charter and second to approve the finished draft, according to the Constitutional Court.
The one-paragraph ruling released on Thursday afternoon put an end to a dispute between the House and the Senate on whether they can start from scratch or are allowed to amend only by section.
It remains unclear at this stage whether lawmakers can proceed with the third and final reading of a bill on how to write a new charter or whether the process has to be reset by asking people in a referendum first whether they want a rewrite of the constitution.
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