In a policy statement delivered to parliament on Monday (29 September), Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that he plans to hold a referendum regarding whether to amend the Constitution. He also said that he will dissolve parliament on 31 January 2026.

Anutin said that, in line with the recent Constitutional Court ruling and for the preservation of the democratic regime with the King as the head of state, the government will be organizing a referendum on constitutional amendments.

Deputy Prime Minister Borwornsak Uwanno added that the government does not intend to draft a new Constitution. Bowornsak helped draft the Interim Constitution after the 2006 military coup and chaired the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee after the 2014 coup whose draft constitution was rejected by the National Reform Council, also appointed by the military.

He said that the government must consider how to include public participation in the constitutional amendment process without going against the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which states that the public cannot directly elect members of a drafting body. It will then be up to the drafting body formed after the referendum to see whether they would amend anything in Chapters 1 and 2 of the current Constitution, which concerns the form of government and the monarchy. He said, however, that two of the main political parties have said that they will not amend the two chapters, noting that the Constitution prohibits amendments that will change the form of government or state.

The referendum is expected to take place during the upcoming general election along with another referendum regarding two MOUs on territory demarcation between Thailand and Cambodia. Voters will be asked whether they want to amend the Constitution and whether they approve the amendment procedure proposed by parliament.

Pheu Thai MP Chusak Sirinil said during yesterday’s session that he is unsure whether the government is serious about constitutional amendments, as it was not listed among its 15 policies but mentioned only in the preamble to the policy statement.

Chusak also said that the Memorandum of Agreement between the Bhumjaithai Party and the People’s Party made it sound like the two parties must propose a bill amending the Constitution. No such bill has been proposed by the Cabinet, he said, although one has been proposed by Bhumjaithai.

He noted that the leaders of some parties in the government coalition recently said in interviews that they don’t support amending the 2017 Constitution because it was designed to tackle corruption. He asked whether the Cabinet can make sure it will support all three constitutional amendment bills proposed and noted that the interviews suggest that the Cabinet has not agreed whether to endorse these bills.

Chusak alleged that political parties are now joining forces to disrupt the constitutional amendment process, and asked who will be held responsible if the amendment process fails.

In yesterday’s session (30 September), Senator Nantana Nantavaropas questioned whether the government is committed to amending the Constitution. She noted that earlier this year, Bhumjaithai MPs and a majority of Senators walked out on a vote on a constitutional amendment bill, and questioned whether there is a hidden agenda behind the newfound support for constitutional amendment.

Meanwhile, People’s Party MP Parit Wacharasindhu said that his party found it unacceptable that the policy statement contains only a short mention of constitutional amendments. Constitutional amendment is a condition in the MOA signed by Bhumjaithai and the People’s Party which included an agreement to vote for Anutin to be Prime Minister, and Parit said that the government’s survival depends on it.

The government should push for the referendum to be conducted during the general election, Parit said. It should also support public participation in the amendment process, and should not use the Constitutional Court’s ruling to pressure parliament into approving a model without public participation, which would result in domination by certain factions.

Senators hold the key to constitutional amendments, Parit said, and while he will do his best to convince them, Anutin would be in the best position to do that. As Prime Minister, Anutin has to try his best to ensure the government’s success, and senators have voted in line with Bhumjaithai MPs on several occasion.