A group of senators is seeking support from three political parties for a constitutional amendment bill that would establish two bodies to oversee the drafting of a new charter while ensuring public participation throughout the process.
Senator Noraset Pratchayakorn said the group has prepared a charter amendment proposal and plans to hold talks with the Pheu Thai Party, the People's Party and the Democrat Party to seek their backing.
He said gathering enough signatures would not be easy, but all constitutional amendment proposals, despite their differences, should be allowed to proceed to parliamentary debate.
The bill requires the support of about 140 MPs before it can be submitted for parliamentary consideration, Mr Noraset said, adding that 10 senators have already signed in support.
Under the proposal, a 200-member public consultation assembly would be elected. Half of its members would be chosen from provincial constituencies, while the other half would be selected through a party-list system open to groups of experts and individuals wishing to present policy proposals.
A 35-member Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) would then be appointed by parliament to write a new charter based on public input gathered through the consultation process.
Political officeholders, members of the public consultation assembly, Constitutional Court judges, and members of independent agencies would be barred from serving on the CDC.
Mr Noraset said the committee would be required to consider public opinions on all issues and report its progress to parliament every 60 days. Any rejected proposals would have to be accompanied by a clear explanation.
Once completed, the draft constitution would be submitted to parliament for debate and comment, but its contents could not be revised in order to prevent political interference.
The CDC would then review and refine the draft before forwarding it to the consultation assembly for approval and subsequently to a referendum.
Senator Thewarit Maneechai, another member of the group, said a civic network is also preparing to collect 50,000 signatures to support a constitutional amendment proposal.
He called on Parliament President Sophon Zarum to wait for the public-sponsored bill before proceeding.
