An MP from the opposition People’s Party has accused Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her administration of being insincere in their promised political reform and Constitutional amendments.

Parit Wacharasindhu alleged that the PM played a key role in the failures in political reform and democratisation, despite the pledges in her policy statement before parliament. He emphasized that the government must be accountable for its promises.

In her policy statement, she stated that her administration would “urgently draft a people’s Constitution to make it more democratic as soon as possible.”

The MP accused the Paetongtarn administration of prioritising the interests of the capitalist groups which have close ties with her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, while neglecting policies that benefit the public.

Parit pointed to the entertainment complex plan as an example, highlighting how the government actively pushed for its passage despite the lack of credible studies, while dragging its feet on political reforms, particularly Constitutional amendments.

He reiterated that the 2017 Constitution is the root cause of the ongoing Thai political crisis and must be immediately amended. The current Constitution weakens anti-corruption mechanisms. It also creates an imbalance of power in parliament due to the selection of the Senate, which is disconnected from the public. In addition, numerous politicians and political parties were unfairly disqualified and dissolved under the current Constitution.

He criticised the government’s lack of urgency in amending the Constitutional, noting that when the opposition party proposed a two-referendum process to expedite the process, the government dragged its feet and failed to rally coalition support to pass the amendment, leading to a lack of quorum.

Parit also stated that the ruling Pheu Thai Party previously announced its plans to increase the local budget allocation from 29% to 35% within two fiscal years. However, two years have passed, and the budget remains the same.

The draft law on decentralising power to local authorities has also made no progress. Parit said not only was the People's Party’s draft rejected, but the government has never proposed an alternative draft either.

In response, PM’s Office Minister Chousak Sirinil defended that the government by acknowledging that political reform requires constitutional amendments, but the number of referendums required remains controversial due to the Constitutional Court’s ruling. At the same time, the House Speaker’s refusal to include the issue in the parliamentary agenda suggested that Parliament considered three referendums necessary.

Currently, a petition regarding the required number of referendums is filed with the Court. Chousak believed that the issue would be clear once the verdict is reached. He still hoped that Constitutional amendments could move forward along with the amendment of the Referendum Act.

He also reassured the public of the government’s commitment to enacting a new Constitution.