LEGISLATION for the public referendum on the new constitution presented by the Election Commission (EC) has been rejected because it proposed that the law be issued under Article 44 of the provisional charter, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday.

He said the referendum law must take the form of an act or royal decree because there are many provisions.

If they were issued under Article 44, it could lead to legal interpretation and intention of the lawproblems.

The law only had 16 articles, which did not cover all issues related to the referendum, he said.

“I have instructed the EC to write about 20 or 30 articles,” he said.

The EC would amend the proposed bill and resubmit it to him soon for approval, the deputy PM said.

The Council of State has not finished revising the amendment to the interim charter for the referendum.

When it is ready, it must be submitted to the Cabinet and the National Council for Peace and Order for approval.

The amendment was on the criteria of voters, which would be completed by next month.

He said the government had not yet decided what solution to do if the charter is rejected in the referendum.

Meanwhile, the EC is facing a severe budget crisis with only Bt72 million left for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year.

“In the next fiscal year of 2017, if the EC does not get enough budget to cover costs, there will be impacts on our work,” Boonyakiati Rakchart-chroen, deputy secretary-general of the EC, said yesterday.

The budget appropriated for the EC had been insufficient to carry out its various projects.

The EC has not received funds for such personnel expenses as salary raises and provident fund contributions for its officials.

It had to rely on the unspent funds left over from holding elections, he said.

Complaints from EC staffers “went viral” after EC managers proposed cutting allowances and perks to deal with the looming financial shortfall.

The complaint letter said the move to cut provident funds, cost-of-living allowances, executive perks and |performance bonuses would erode the morale of EC officials across the country. The cut in allowances would undermine staff efficiency and loyalty to the agency.

The complaint letter also called for the removal of Surani Polthawi, the EC’s policy and planning office |director, for allegedly not having enough knowledge to manage the EC’s budget.