Petroleum bill faces opposition

A pro-energy reform group yesterday petitioned the Constitution Court against the petroleum bill that sailed through three readings by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on April 30.

Led by Panthep Puapongpan of the People’s Army and Energy Reform Network, the group asked the court to rule whether the energy bill is against the charter that was promulgated on April 6.

The NLA should have exercised its authority under the second paragraph of Section 77 of the charter to conduct public hearings on the bill before it was submitted for royal endorsement, said Mr Panthep.

Without conducting the required hearings, the NLA had violated the rights of the public and acted against good governance principles, according to Mr Panthep.

The group therefore exercised its right under Section 213 of the charter to directly petition the court to protect its right, he said.

Section 213 of the charter allows people whose rights have been violated to directly petition the Constitution Court.

As a matter of fact, the group wanted the court to rule whether the process of submitting the NLA-approved petroleum bill for royal endorsement was against Section 77’s second paragraph or any other section of the charter, said Mr Panthep.

Although the energy bill was drafted before the current charter was promulgated and the public hearing on it wasn’t compulsory at the time, the NLA should have been aware during its deliberation of the bill that having a public hearing on the bill became mandatory after the new charter was promulgated, he said.

Mr Panthep said he learned that 24 other petitions had been filed previously under Section 213 of the charter regarding other matters, and his network’s petition was the first one to deal with Section 77 of the charter.

If the court accepts the network’s petition for trial, it would set a precedence for anyone whose rights may be violated, he said. He said he expected to find out the court’s decision on whether to accept the petition for trial in about a month.

The network next plans to send a letter to the prime minister asking him to delay submitting the bill for royal endorsement, if it hasn’t yet been sent.