A majority of people agree with all of the Election Commission's electoral reform proposals concerning the election and selection of MPs and senators submitted to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), according to an opinion poll conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).
Election Commission (EC) members make offerings to monks during a merit-making ceremony. (Photo by Tawatchai Khemgumnerd)
The EC's proposals are aimed at ending electorial fraud and the perpetuation of power of politicians.
The poll was carried out on July 9 and 10 on 1,247 people of vaious levels of education and occupation throughout the country.
On the EC's proposal for the election of MPs to be changed from one MP, one constituency to a new system in which there would be more than one member in an enlarged constituency to make vote-buying more difficult, the majority of respondents, or 60.79%, agreed to it, 26.7% disagreed and 12.51% had no answer.
On the proposal for an MP to serve not more than two consecutive terms, or eight years, 71.69% of the respondents agreed, 24.21% disagreed, 3.77% had no comment and 0.40% said an MP should serve only one term.
On the proposal for MPs in the party-list system to come from various groups of occupations, 84.6% agreed, 12.11% disagreed, 3.21% had no answer and 0.08% said the party-list system should be scrapped.
A majority, or 66%, of the respondents agreed to the EC's proposal for permanent secretaries of ministries to act for ministers in case of a House dissolution, 25.1% disagreed and 8.9% had no comment.
On the proposal to prohibit spouses, former spouses, children and adopted children of a family from running for the House of Representatives or the Senate at the same time, 60.71% agreed, 34.48% disagreed, 4.65% had no comment and 0.16% said not more than two from one family should be allowed to run for both houses at the same time.