Top court set to rule on charter rejig

The Constitutional Court is set to rule on March 11 whether parliament has the power to open the way for a rewrite of the charter in its entirety.

If the court decides parliament possesses no such power, the motion to amend Section 256 in the constitution, which has passed scrutiny during the second reading, is unlikely to make it to the third and final reading when MPs and senators are due to vote whether to pass it or not.

The Office of the Constitutional Court released a news bulletin yesterday announcing the court will pass the ruling on March 11 ahead of the third-reading vote scheduled for March 17.

The court is acting on a petition jointly raised by Senator Somchai Sawaengkan and Palang Pracharath Party MP Paiboon Nititawan.

The lawmakers have asked the court to clear doubts…