Conservatives scored a possibly temporary win today when the Senate voted 153:24 in support of a two-tier referendum to amend the Constitution, despite the likelihood that the House of Representatives will reject a two-tier in favour of a single referendum.
Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit, one of the progressive senators, said during a debate in the Senate today that she does not understand why the majority of the senators opted for the two-tier referendum, despite previous amendments to Constitutions requiring only one.
She pleaded with the majority of the senators to exercise caution and to uphold the public interest as top priority, as she predicted that the MPs would shoot down the two-tier referendum.
Another progressive senator, Nantana Nantavaropas, said that the referendum bill has been politicised to delay attempts to amend the Constitution.
She noted that the difference between the Senate and the House on the issue will mean that the referendum bill will be placed on hold until the middle of next year.
Nantana claimed that a single-tier referendum has been the practice in several countries and has benefits over a two-tier referendum, adding that elections in Thailand, both local and national, have been decided by one-tier elections, “so, why a two-tier referendum (in this case)?”
Nikorn Chamnong, an MP and secretary of the Joint Senate-House Committee, said he expects a referendum to be held in January 2026, adding that it is highly unlikely that an amended charter will be available in 2027.
“It is similar to the Sun rising in the West, which is impossible,” said Nikorn.
People’s party list MP Parit Wacharasindhu, also a member of the Joint Senate-House Committee, said that a two-tier referendum is akin to a system employed by its proponents to encourage voters to stay at home, instead of going to the polls in force to vote down the one-tier referendum system.
A two-tier referendum means that, in the first tier, more than half of the eligible voters must vote in support of the two-tier system and, in the second tier referendum, the majority of voters must support the two-tier system, said the MP.
