Over 55 percent Thais support charter changes: Poll

Many Thai people supported the government's plan to amend two articles of the 2007 constitution but wanted the government to hold a referendum first, according to a latest survey released on Sunday.

The survey conducted by Suan Dusit Poll was aimed to find out people's views on the cabinet's decision to push forward changes to the 2007 charter - one to the electoral system and the other to the framework for international agreements. The study targeted 2, 331 respondents nationwide.

61.19 percent of the respondents supported the move to rewrite Section 190, which stipulates that parliamentary approval is needed before signing international treaties, for protecting the country's interests.

57.71 percent agreed with proposed changes to sections 93 to 98 so the House will comprise 500 MPs - 375 from single-seat constituency system and the rest from a single nationwide party list.

77.14 percent said a charter referendum should also be held to allow people to express their political views first.

However, 37.89 percent said amending the constitution would not improve the political situation because it would be done for politicians' own interests.

21.10 percent said the political situation would be better if the charter is amended since it would require votes from the majority of the people.

Thai cabinet on Tuesday agreed to move ahead with amending the constitution to make it easier for the government to enter into agreements with foreign countries. The cabinet also gave its green light to change the current electoral system of members of the House of Representatives from multi-seat constituency to single- seat one.

Source: Xinhua