EC to start distributing draft charter copies in mid-April

BANGKOK, 26 February 2016 (NNT) – The Election Commission of Thailand is planning to distribute copies of the new draft charter to the public within the next two months.

EC member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said on Thursday that the EC had held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam to discuss the adjustment of the wording of the criteria to be used in determining the result of the public referendum and already reached a conclusion on the matter.

Concerning the preparation for the public referendum, Mr. Somchai said that there were talks about three main points, including the criterion to identify the number of eligible voters, which still needs further discussion, the cancellation of the mandatory sending of the copies of the draft charter to at least 80% of eligible voters, and the relaxation of the age limit for eligible voters in the referendum.

He added that the EC expects the publishing of the draft charter copies will need around 200 million baht in budget while the distribution will also be done through the EC website and application – all of them will start in the middle of April.

Mr. Somchai went on to say that the entire public referendum process should cost no more than 3.4 billion baht.


-- NNT 2016-02-26

Concerning the preparation for the public referendum, Mr. Somchai said that there were talks about three main points

Whatever it takes to influence the passing of the draft.

I wonder if this time the junta government will publish the draft in Kelantan-Pattani Malay for the Muslim population in the South? For the 2007 Constitution referendum the military only published in Thai.