Concerned About Wasted Time: Cabinet Won't Reaffirm Old Constitution Amendment Draft, Points to Likely Third Reading Rejection; Bhumjaithai Party Set to Propose New Draft

At 3:30 PM on May 14, 2569, government spokesman Paradorn Parisnanantakul held a press conference at Government House addressing the opposition's criticism following the cabinet's decision not to reaffirm the pending constitution amendment draft from the previous parliament. According to the government's perspective, the non-reaffirmation stems from previous constitutional amendment debates in parliament that contributed to the dissolution, triggered by disputes over reducing the Senate's power by one-third in approving amendments. "If the government reaffirms the old draft, it's likely that parliament will face the same conflicts as before dissolution, and the third reading vote will probably fail, wasting time since similar bills cannot be resubmitted in the same parliamentary session, potentially nullifying the intention of those who voted in the referendum," Paradorn stated. He explained that with a new parliament in place, it's appropriate for lawmakers and political parties to propose a new constitution amendment draft. Bhumjaithai Party will bring this matter to its party meeting on May 19, having already prepared a draft. If the party meeting approves, the party's 192 MPs will submit the draft alone, which meets the one-fifth requirement. The new draft's core content will exclude the problematic provisions from the previous version to achieve consensus and move forward. The draft also stipulates that constitutional drafting committee members will be selected through a parliamentary mechanism open to qualified applicants.