A PETITION will be filed with the Ombudsman’s Office tomorrow, calling for a review of two clauses of the referendum bill arguing that that they deprive people of their rights and freedoms.

The move by the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) comes amid increasing political tension, with several legal actions taken against dissidents and other critics of the referendum bill ahead of the August plebiscite.

This followed last month’s enactment of the vaguely written bill, which many people believe could be used as a tool by the powers that be to target all movements deemed critical of the charter draft.

Jon Ungpakorn, iLaw’s director, said the petition concerns clauses two and four of Article 61.

Clause 2 stipulates that anyone distributing false, aggressive, harsh, rude, seditious or threatening messages, pictures or comments through the media in an attempt to influence how people vote or not vote at all will be considered a person who creates conflict.

Clause 4 states that any party of five or more people committing acts as stipulated in Article 61 will face one to 10 years in jails, a fine of between Bt20,000 and Bt200,000, and a ban from voting for 10 years.

Jon said that further details on the move against the bill would be revealed tomorrow.

The petition will call on Sriracha Wongsarayangkul, president of the Ombudsman’s Office, to propose the matter to the Constitutional Court to determine if the clauses violate the interim charter.

Jon said the petition was signed by him, the former chairman of the National Human Rights Commis-sion Niran Pitakwatchara, former senator Kraisak Choonhavan, a number of former Election Commission members and Law Reform Commissioners, as well as a number of representatives from non-governmental organisations and some university lecturers.

Meanwhile, Interior Ministry permanent secretary Kritsada Bunrat said he would instruct provincial governors, kamnan and village heads to give their cooperation to the EC for the referendum.

He said the Cabinet’s April 5 resolution approved the EC’s guidelines for the referendum and sought the cooperation of all ministries, departments and state enterprises to ensure the referendum was carried out with fairness.

He said he had instructed all government officials under the jurisdiction of his ministry – at local, regional and central levels – to cooperate with the EC. They were ordered to help disseminate the content of the charter draft and provide trainers to explain the draft in districts, tambons, and villages.

The officials were also told to support the EC in providing personnel, places to vote and polling booths and check the household registration of eligible voters across the country.

Eligible voters must be notified about the referendum date no less than 15 days before it is held. Those who want to vote outside their constituency must be registered at least 30 days before the referendum date.

Kritsada said officials were instructed not to guide voters to vote for or against the charter but to act in a neutral manner.

He called on the media to disseminate news about the referendum to increase voter awareness about exercising their voting rights.

Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said provincial charter trainers would be selected from high-ranking provincial civil servants and trained on May 18-19, before being assigned to educate 8,780 district trainers between May 30 and June 10. He said the district trainers would train 80,491 people between April 11-30, before all 321,964 trainers disseminate the charter to the public from July 1-20.

“Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha insists that the trainers must not create bias in the public about the draft,” he said. “They must also understand the draft thoroughly.”

Constitution Drafting Committee member Chatchai na Chiangmai revealed that the CDC would observe the draft education campaign in 107 villages in 27 provinces, as randomly picked by the National Institute of Development Administration.

The CDC will monitor trainers’ trustworthiness, to ensure they are free from bias, while also monitoring their ability to communicate their assignment clearly in an appropriate time, Chatchai said.

“The government’s prosecution of the draft’s critics could affect the people’s vote decision,” the CDC member said. “The government must be patient and act as a committee, not a rival party, to ensure the referendum is not in vain.”