The junta head has said that if the Constitutional Court rules that the controversial Referendum Act is unconstitutional, the August referendum might be postponed. The junta-appointed lawmakers said that under Article 44 of the Interim Charter, the junta had the power to postpone the referendum.
Thailand’s Ombudsman has recently submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court to rule whether the 2016 Referendum Act is constitutional or not. This is after a group of human rights advocates asked the Ombudsman to urgently review the Act, saying that Article 61 of the Referendum Act, which allows authorities to suppress critics of the junta’s charter draft, contradicts the 2014 Interim Charter.
On Thursday, 2 June 2016, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta head and PM, told the media at Government House that the junta is willing to move the date of the draft charter referendum if the Constitutional Court rules that the Referendum Act is unconstitutional. He also urged the media to report that the postponement is not the junta’s fault, Matichon Online reported.
In a related development, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, Chairman of National Legislative Assembly (NLA), said that if the court agreed with the Ombudsman, the Election Commission of Thailand shall have the authority to postpone the referendum. Or else, the PM might use Article 44 to postpone the referendum for the sake of the country’s peace and order, reported the National Assembly Radio and Television Broadcasting Station (Radio Parliament).