'Ignoring court advice may ignite protests'

Thammasat University will warn the government not to ignore the Constitution Court's advice to hold a public referendum on rewriting the Constitution as that could rekindle political protests.

"There will be conflict again. And the people who disapprove of the government's decision will take to the streets to express their opposition," Assoc Prof Prinya Thaewanaru-mitkul, a law lecturer at the university, said yesterday.

A team of law and political science lecturers at Thammasat brainstorming answers to three questions from the government regarding its plan to amend the Constitution agreed that although the court's suggestion was not legally binding, there would be a "social impact" if it were not heeded.

Some questions had more than one answer, but all the answers would be sent to the government before the long Songkran holiday in the middle of next month. The government should not make the decision by itself.

"We want a democratic method to be applied," he said. The Thammasat team would also make more suggestions and question the need for drafting a charter from scratch, he said.

To prevent any criticism or misunderstanding, the university opted not to receive government funding for this mission.

Chulalongkorn and Ramkham-haeng universities have also received the questions from the government-appointed committee to study the legal issues on staging a public referendum on revising the charter, which is chaired by Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana. The study teams have 60 days from January 15 to offer comments on the three points:

lWhether Parliament can amend the Constitution of 2007 to allow the rewriting of the whole Constitution and what would be the process.

lWhat are the legal implications of the Constitution Court's ruling last July related to the referendum and whether conducting the referendum after a charter rewrite would be in line with the court's recommendation.

lWhat is the legality of a referendum on whether people agree with a charter rewrite to be used with the charter amendment bill that has been stalled in Parliament.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/03/25/ignoring-court-advice-may-ignite-protests/