Thailand's reform council proposes charter referendum

Thailand's National Reform Council (NRC) has proposed to the prime minister that a referendum be held on the draft constitution, the NRC whip said on Monday.

The proposal was submitted to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last Thursday, Alongkorn Polabutr said, adding the NRC had agreed that the referendum should be pertaining to the charter as a whole, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

It is believed that the referendum should take at least six months so that there will be sufficient time for distributing up to 47 million copies of the draft charter to the public, according to Alongkorn.

Last week, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) also suggested a referendum to the prime minister.

The cabinet, the coup-making National Council for Peace and Order, the NRC, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the CDC are expected to meet on Tuesday and decide whether the draft charter will be put to a referendum, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said earlier.

For a referendum to be held, an amendment to the interim charter will have to be submitted to the NLA for a vote, Wissanu said, adding, if approved, a referendum is likely to take place in December or January next year.