Bill can still proceed if court rejects constitution drafting assembly

Parliament can still proceed with the third reading of a charter amendment bill even if the Constitutional Court rules against a proposed amendment aimed at setting up a charter writing body, Ramate Rattanachaweng, a secretary to the parliament president said on Wednesday.

The court will meet today, but whether it will rule on the legality of charter change proposals remains to be seen, Mr Ramate said. If the court rules against setting up a constitution drafting assembly (CDA) to write a new charter, parliament could not vote on the issue concerning the establishment of a CDA, contained in a charter amendment-related bill up for its third reading, he said.

However, parliament can still vote on proposed charter amendments to Section 256 of the constitution. Section 256 says charter changes require the support of at least one-third of the Senate, or 84 senators….