New Election Rules Designed to Keep Junta in Power

[buksida]

This article is the clearest one I have found so far on how the junta has changed the system to keep itself in power. They don't call it a general election for nothing, you will elect a general!


NEW THAI ELECTION RULES MAKE IT HARD TO TRUMP JUNTA’S PICK
Thailand heads to the polls Sunday to vote in the country’s first general election since the military toppled an elected government in a coup nearly five years ago.

Once the junta was in power, it tore up the constitution and had a new one written that significantly changed the nation’s political structure and electoral rules.

Observers say the new system was a designed to limit the power of big political parties like those that dominated past elections and to increase the need for a coalition government. They say it will also give the military’s allies an inside track on leading the next government.

Here’s a look at the system:

APPOINTED SENATE
A 250-member Senate has been established and all of the senators will be appointees selected by the junta. The junta has said its selections will be revealed after the general election.

ELECTED LOWER HOUSE
The lower house of parliament will consist of 500 members, all of them elected. The majority of members — 350 — will represent individual constituencies around the country and be directly elected by voters in those areas. The other 150 will be party list members, selected from slates of candidates designated by each party, with winning seats assigned in rough proportion to the total share of votes each party receives nationwide.

AT THE POLLS
Voters used to cast two ballots, one for their local member of parliament and the other for their political party preference. The process was relatively straightforward and allowed voters to have local loyalties that differed from their national political party allegiances. Under the new system there is just one ballot and the vote for the local member of parliament will also count as one’s party preference.

POPULAR PARTY WOES
The number of seats allocated to each party is determined by a convoluted formula that handicaps those parties winning the most constituency seats, by putting a soft cap on the number of party list seats it can be awarded. Midsized parties that win fewer constituency seats are compensated with a lesser handicap, with the rationale that parties with substantial yet weaker vote totals deserve representation. In other words, voting for a big party’s representatives dilutes the value of one’s party list choice, and lowers the number of house seats that party can accumulate. This weakens bigger, more popular parties.

PRIME MINISTER PICK
A voter has even less of a voice in picking the prime minister, not just because he or she is indirectly elected by parliament, but because the election is by a joint vote of the elected lower house and the unelected senate. In theory, if all senators vote in a bloc — say for the military candidate who appointed them — a prime minister nominee could win the job by getting just 126 votes in the lower house. That means such a nominee would just need to woo 25 percent of the elected members of the house, plus one more, to become prime minister. The prime minister does not need to be a member of parliament.

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/ ... ntas-pick/

[fabman]

It does seem unfortunately that this and future elections are designed to keep the status quo here in Thailand with the same military government.

Most Thais I have spoken too are not happy with the current situation, so there could be problems in the near future..

Even in countries like the UK , the politicians are now so arrogant they do what is in their own interests, rather than carry out what the people have voted for ( Brexit)

[hhinner]

But could the PM elected by Senate and a minority of the lower house get his legislative program endorsed in the lower house? What if he has 126 members (+ Senate) that vote him in as PM in the lower house, couldn't the other 374 members of the lower house vote down any of his legislation they disagreed with?

[handdrummer]

Even in countries like the UK , the politicians are now so arrogant they do what is in their own interests, rather than carry out what the people have voted for ( Brexit)

Isn't that what politicians have always done? The lobbyists control the government and the biggest lobbyists have the most influence.

[hhinner]

It does seem unfortunately that this and future elections are designed to keep the status quo here in Thailand with the same military government.

Most Thais I have spoken too are not happy with the current situation, so there could be problems in the near future..

Even in countries like the UK , the politicians are now so arrogant they do what is in their own interests, rather than carry out what the people have voted for ( Brexit)

Or even in the interests of the country no matter what happened in a referendum 3 years ago.

[buksida]

Lets keep this on Thailand guys, there are already threads to argue about Brexit on this forum.

[HHTel]

I've posted this several times since the constitution was re-written. As said it's designed to keep the military with the upper hand.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Hey, Thai people, it doesn't really matter who you vote for, or whether you vote at all. Under the new constitution, nothing is gonna change regardless of which party wins the most seats. (It's almost impossible for any single party to hold the majority!)

[hhinner]

But, assuming Prayut manages to get to be PM, how can he pass any legislation if his supporters in the lower house are a minority?

Of course there's also the possibility of getting opposition MPs and parties banned for supposed election misdeeds.

[HHTel]

All laws voted for in the lower house have to be approved by the Senate.

Because the Senate has a vote for the next prime minister, they will probably vote for the guy who put them there. This of course would mean he doesn't need a majority vote in the House of Representatives to be appointed.

The Senate does have increased powers not seen before and there are things the prime minister can do without approval of the house.

And of course, if things aren't going well then the Senate will call for another coup.

[buksida]

Here is a guide to the main parties, none of which really have a chance apart from the junta backed one ...

THAI ELECTION FOR DUMMIES: GUIDE TO THE PARTIES
There are 77 parties contesting the March 24 election, but only about a dozen are expected to make a showing. Connect the dots between the logos, candidates, policies, allegiances and support for military rule in this handy list based upon their size, past performance and overall hype.

Don’t see a candidate from your favorite one canvassing on your street? Keep in mind that only the largest parties are competing in every constituency.

Names all sound similar? Chart/chat means “nation,” pattana is “development,” pheu is “for,” phalang is “power.”

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/ ... e-parties/

[fabman]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47664201

All the cards are stacked in the Juntas favor, even if another party were to surprisingly win, they have to follow the current government's plan for the next 20 years.

[buksida]

Thailand's dictatorship deepens with continued junta rule for the foreseeable future ... Now the generalissimo can claim the people chose him so his megalomania will increase tenfold. Expect another coup within a year.

Prayut set to retain grip on top job
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is highly likely to reclaim premiership after the number of House seats won by the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) in Sunday's election defied all expectations even though the Pheu Thai Party, its major rival, won the most seats.

Of the 93% of unofficial poll results announced by the Election Commission (EC), Pheu Thai won the most seats in the constituency system with 125 while the PPRP came in second on 97, followed by the Bhumjaithai Party (39), the Democrat Party (29) and the Future Forward Party (26) as of press time.

However, according to the unofficial results, the PPRP led with 7.1 million votes, followed by Pheu Thai (6.9 million), Future Forward (4.4 million), Bhumjaithai (2.6 million) and the Democrat Party (2.1 million).

As a result, the PPRP is likely to win a higher number of party-list seats than Pheu Thai, based on the mixed-member proportional representation method used.

As such, the two parties would be more or less level with each other in terms of both constituency and party-list MPs.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politi ... on-top-job

This may have had something to do with it ...

Vote-buying 'rampant', says election watchdog
Vote-buying was rampant on the eve of Sunday's general election, according to the Open Forum for Democracy Foundation (P-Net), a non-governmental organisation focusing on strengthening democracy and electoral processes.

Ladawan Tantiwitthaypitak, a P-net executive, said several parties still resorted to "money politics" to bribe voters. She also said there were cases of vote buying in the final leg of the election campaign, though not in an overt manner.

She said people were mobilised to attend campaign rallies, each receiving 200 baht to turn up while a driver who took them to the rallies got 500 baht. The banknotes were held by rubber bands under meal boxes given to each rally participant, she said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politi ... n-watchdog

[oakdale160]

So a vote is worth 200baht!!!!!!

[HHTel]

Myanmar people were interested in the Thai elections and were happy to see democracy return to Thailand.

Democracy???!!! The political setup here doesn't fit any definition of democracy regardless which dictionary you use!

[europtimiste]

Hopefully there will be discussions to form a coalition and eliminate this dictator.