Charter proposals backed after mammoth session

Proposed charter amendments were passed by parliament in a second reading on Thursday night with an interval of 15 days required before a vote in a third reading can take place.

After almost 20 hours of examining the proposed charter amendments, 521 MPs and senators voted in favour, with 42 against and 17 abstentions.

Parliament adopted two charter amendment bills, one proposed by the government and another by the opposition during the first reading on Nov 18.

During Thursday’s debate a committee scrutinising proposed charter changes agreed that the draft of a new constitution would be invalidated if less than half of the number of eligible voters turned out for a referendum on it.

A new constitution draft will be rejected if it does not get the backing of more than half of all eligible voters.

Parliament president Chuan Leekpai then told the session that the…