Pheu Thai submits two draft constitutional amendments outlining secret ballot process for charter drafting committee selection to prevent political manipulation
Pheu Thai submitted two constitutional amendment drafts proposing different methods for selecting charter drafting committee members, with the second version using secret ballot voting to prevent political manipulation of the process.
On May 27, 2025, at Parliament, Nuttapong Ruangpanya, Pheu Thai list MP and party leader, along with Pirtsadee Wattharasindhoo, submitted two draft constitutional amendments addressing the new charter drafting process. Nuttapong explained that the party has signed draft amendments to Section 15/1 concerning mechanisms for drafting a new constitution, proposing two versions aligned with three core principles: promoting public participation, ensuring the new constitution isn't controlled by any single political group, and not expanding Senate privileges.
The party is prepared to support all drafts meeting these three principles. The two proposals are necessary due to a Constitutional Court ruling that prohibits direct public election of charter drafters. One draft incorporates a process previously proposed by Pheu Thai that received Senate support before parliament's dissolution.
Pirtsadee detailed that both drafts are nearly identical except for the charter drafting committee (SDC) selection process. Both aim for 150 committee members total. The first draft allows public voting to nominate 150 candidates (100 from geographic constituencies, 50 from party lists nationwide), then parliament approves or rejects the entire slate without individual review.
The second draft requires public election of 300 candidates (200 from geographic constituencies by province, 100 from nationwide lists), with parliament selecting 150 through secret ballot voting to prevent political manipulation and preserve committee member independence. The selection uses two tracks: parliament selects 100 from the 200 geographic representatives and applies separate criteria for the 100 list representatives.
