The deputy prime minister said that only the cabinet and the junta have an authority to decide whether the public referendum on the new constitutional draft would be held or not.
According to ASTV Manager Online, Visanu Krue-ngam, the Deputy Prime Minister under Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the prime minister and junta’s leader, on Thursday dismissed the proposal from the Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC) and National Reform Council (NRC) that the public referendum on the new constitutional draft should be held.
The deputy PM said that although the majority of the CDC and NRC members see that the public referendum on the constitutional draft should be held prior to its imposition, only the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the cabinet have an authority to decide over the matter.
The CDC is welcome to make recommendations on the process to pass the constitutional draft. However, the CDC’s main job is to draft the new constitution, said Visanu.
He also implied that holding the public referendum on the new constitutional draft could take up to four to five months and the government might be criticised from lingering on to power for too long.