Amendment motion likely

       Senators and MPs plan to file a motion next week seeking the amendment of the 2007 constitution without waiting for the findings of parliamentary whips looking into the issue.
       Suphan Buri senator Prasit Phothasuthon said senators and MPs who earlier signed a petition supporting the parliamentary reconciliation committee's recommendation to amend six points of the constitution will sponsor the motion.
       The group decided to file the motion because it believed the government was insincere in its efforts to amend the charter and seek political reconciliation,Mr Prasit said yesterday.
       Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's professed support for the constitutional amendments was aimed simply at buying time so his government could stay in power, he added. Mr Prasit said his group would gather signatures supporting the motion from at least 125 senators and MPs, or one-fifth of the members of the two houses. Senate whip Lertrat Rattanawanich said Mr Prasit's group had the right to file the motion independently.
       The opposition Puea Thai Party's whip has already withdrawn from the committee made up of government, opposition and senate whips which had agreed to support the amendments.
       It will be difficult for the government and senate whips to proceed with the amendment bid without the opposition's participation.
       Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday said the government would ask voters if they wanted the 2007 constitution to be amended.
       The question of amendment did not rest with politicians alone, he said. The people's views should also be heard.
       The Democrat Party's position on the amendments is in doubt however, after about 100 party MPs yesterday joined deputy leader Banyat Bantadtan in opposing the amendments. Members were free to voice opinions, said Mr Suthep, the Democrat secretary-general.