The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has decided to drop the controversial "open list" system and adopt the whole country as one single constituency for the party-list system.
CDC spokesman Gen Lertrat Ratanavanich said the open-list system will not be introduced in the new constitution but the mixed member proportional representation election system will stay.
An open-list system involves voters ranking candidates each political party proposes. Critics say it creates rivalries between candidates of the same party causing disunity. Gen Lertrat also said there will be 300 constituency MPs, up from 250 in the original draft, and 150 party-list MPs, down from between 200-220 as originally proposed, with the entire country drawn up as one single constituency.
Under the original draft, the country was to be divided into six regions with each political party being able to field between 31-35 party-list candidates per region.
According to Gen Lertrat, the system, despite its complexity, will not cause trouble for voters when they go to the polls. The number of seats will be calculated by the Election Commission. The CDC will consider the make-up of the Senate and how it should come into being tomorrow. So far there are five proposals for the direct elections of senators.
Under the draft charter, the Senate will consist of no more than 200 members, with each province having one appointed member, while the other members are to be chosen from pools of candidates nominated by ex-politicians and former high-ranking state officials. The structure has been criticised as complicated.
He said while the Senate's composition is yet to be worked out, its scope of powers and responsibilities are deemed final. The upper house, for example, will not be empowered to propose any bills and examine the qualifications of potential cabinet ministers.
Gen Lertrat said the CDC will have to finish revising the draft section-by-section by July 28 and then explain its work to the National Reform Council (NRC) members.
He said the revised draft will have about 20 fewer sections than the original draft of 315 sections, which is criticised for being too long and detailed.
CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn said Monday the charter recommendations by the cabinet and the NRC are different from those which the public gave at hearings.
However, he said the drafters are trying to do their best to make the new constitution acceptable to the public.
Mr Kamnoon also defended the committee's decision to keep the people's assembly in the revised draft, saying it is not exactly a new organisation and is part of the already-existing civic movement. The proposed body is intended to be a channel for civil society to offer opinions on national development.
Meanwhile, a source close to the CDC said charter drafters are sticking to the original timeline of the charter writing process so the final draft must be completed before July 23.
