The Constitutional Court has demanded the minutes of the Constitution Drafting Committee's 501st meeting, when they discussed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's tenure, and will discuss the case again next Wednesday.
The office of the Constitutional Court said that the court on Thursday discussed the opposition's petition on the tenure of Prime Minister Prayut and ordered the secretary-general of the House of Representatives to send it the minutes of the CDC's 501st meeting on Sept 11, 2018.
The secretary-general must deliver the minutes by next Tuesday and the court would meet again next Wednesday to discuss the case.
The office of the court said that the 501st meeting of the CDC was scheduled to approve the minutes of the 500th meeting of the CDC on Sept 7, 2018.
The minutes of the 501st meeting would relate to the court's consideration of the petition for it to rule if the prime minister's tenure in office had already ended.
According to reports, CDC head Meechai Ruchuphan said during the 500th meeting that the prime ministerial tenure of Gen Prayut started before the promulgation of the present constitution on April 6, 2017.
Gen Prayut was installed as prime minister on Aug 24, 2014, under the provisional constitution enforced after he led the coup on May 22, 2014. If the tenure began then, it should have ended on Aug 24 this year.
The constitution limits the tenure of the prime minister to eight years.
If the tenure was considered as beginning when the present constitution was promulgated in 2017, Gen Prayut could stay on in the premiership until 2025.
Opposition leader Cholnan Srikaew said the court was apparently interested in the opinions of CDC members at their 500th meeting, and those members included Mr Meechai.
He said that the opposition had already sent the minutes of the 501st meeting to the court and expected the document to reach the court on Thursday.
Pending its ruling, the court suspended Gen Prayut from all prime ministerial duties on Aug 24.
